Too Much Attention
by Loner Kid
Summary: Tsuna has an older brother who became Vongola Decimo while he was neglected and bullied. All he wanted is a little attention and a smile from his mom. And when a mysterious stranger's voice appeared in his head one day, he finally got his wish. But he's starting to think that's he's getting too much attention... (slow updates)
1. Chapter 1 Mindscape and Memories

**Too Much Attention**

**BY: Loner Kid**

**Summary: **Tsuna has an older brother who became Vongola Decimo while he was neglected and bullied. All he wanted is a little attention and a smile from his mom. And when a mysterious stranger's voice appeared in his head one day, he finally got his wish. But he's starting to think that's he's gaining too much attention... Natsu is hiding something, Tsuna has a weird tattoo on his stomach, and Mafia gained a new enemy called Akatsuki.

**Disclaimer: **Not mine, never mine!

**Warning: **Slightly OOC, not so oblivious Nana. (Obviously, since every Nana in twin fics is OOC) Ero Sennin is dead, Tsunade is alive, all members of Akatsuki were alive, including Sasori &amp; Deidara. (A story is not fun without these two 'artists' bickering!) They will show up later in the story.

**AN: **I've read many twin fics and I decided to write one myself! But this is my first twin fic, I wanted to make it different from all the others I've read. So I added a few things here and there that's not supposed to show up in ordinary twin fics.

Naruto might appear more mature in this fic. Well, in this story, he's 16, and has gone through many battles, massacres...etc. So obviously, he's gonna be more mature than his 12 years old obnoxious self. Also, in this fic, Iemitsu and Nana are **NOT **evil, just so you know. They do care for Tsuna, it's just...they can't help but lean towards Natsu more since Natsu is an ace student while Tsuna failed in EVERYTHING. Anyone would like Natsu more right?

* * *

**Updated: **Mar. 16, 2014. 4:16 PM

**Chapter 1 Mindscape and Memories**

_A blast of light engulfed Naruto. He tried to move but found himself unable to control his limbs. What happened? He thought he and his friends had been fighting Madara, then there was something...he can't remember what it was. But that thing hit him, causing him to fall forward, then...then he found himself in this total whiteness._

_A jolt of pain suddenly went through his head. The last thing he remembered before falling unconscious was Sakura's screaming, "NARUTO!"_

Naruto opened his eyes slowly, and found himself laying in a very familiar surrounding. He was staring at the ceiling of what appeared to be a sewer and was drenching in dirty, foul-smelling water, soaking his orange jumpsuit. Propping himself up with an elbow, Naruto scanned the sewer. At first glance it appeared to be his mindscape, but as he examined closely, there were something different about the sewer. The water was cleaner than the water in his mindscape. The space also appeared to be larger in width and height. This, apparently, doesn't seemed to be his mindscape.

"Kyuubi?" He called out, but received no response in reply. So this really isn't his mindscape? There's one more way to test it, however.

Closing his eyes and letting out a calming breath, Naruto imagined the surrounding to change into a grass field with many training dummies surround it. If it worked, then that means he was in his mindscape, because only the owner has the power to change the view of their mindscape.

Opening his eyes nervously, Naruto was greeted with the same awful sight and rotten egg smell. Sighing dejectedly, Naruto got up and decided to walk around. He has to find out whose mindscape this belongs to, and try to find a way to communicate with that person. After all, it's rude to enter other people's mind without permission (except in a battle, for Ino does it all the time).

And...Naruto was also very curious about the identity of this person. Why does he, or she, has a similar mindscape as his? Was it because he or she is also a Jinchuuriki? Was it because he or she was also bullied, abused, and hated by everyone like how Naruto was before he met all his friends? If it's true, then Naruto must help that person. He wouldn't let another person suffer like he had in his childhood. The hated look, the hushed whispers, the mocking laugh, the beatings... he knew how much pain all this can cause on a person.

Without Iruka sensei, without Sakura chan and Sasuke bastard (although he hated to admit this), without Kakashi sensei and Ero sennin, without everyone who are precious to him...he could never make it through his abusive childhood alive. It was their presence, always by his side, that gave him the courage to live. They were one of the first to offer him help when he needed it. He knew he would never become what he is today if he doesn't have anyone helping him. Therefore, he's going to find the identity of this person, and see just _what _caused he or she to have a mindscape like this. And if he could, he would offer help to this person. He would deal with Madara and that weird jutsu later, seeing he doesn't even know whose mind he's in, he doubt that he had the power to defeat Madara right now.

Sauntering around aimlessly, Naruto finally arrived at a narrow pathway with no water on the ground. Taking off his ninja sandals, Naruto shook the water out of them then put them on again. Walking down the narrow pathway, Naruto found a door on his right. It has red painted all over the door. Naruto hesitantly grabbed the handle and pulled open the door, preparing for the worst. But the only thing he saw, was mountains and mountains of stacks of papers with red marks all over it!

"Seems like this person doesn't have a smart mind..." Naruto muttered, mentally comparing the person to himself.

Closing the door, Naruto walked further up ahead and after about a few minutes of walking and looking, he saw another door on his right. Naruto opened it without hesitation, curious to see what's behind the door, and found himself engulfed in a bright flash of light. Then, everything turned dark, with a few flashes here and there. He panicked for a second before realizing the darkness began to swirl and twist as if it's changing into something else. It looked as if a real movie scene was playing in front of him.

_-7-years old-_

_"Mama! Look mama! I got 100% on my test again!" A young boy with blond hair and caramel eyes ran to a woman wearing an apron who was smiling kindly at him and hugged her._

_"Oh! My dear Na-kun! You are so smart! Mama is so proud of you!" His mother hugged him back with such warmth and adore that made the boy's grin even wider._

_It was then another boy ran into the kitchen. He has fluffy brown hair and the same caramel eyes, but his eyes were filled with hope instead of happiness like his brother. He ran towards the hugging pair, but didn't throw himself onto his mother. Instead, he stopped a few feet in front of her and timidly showed her his test paper, which had a bright red 60 marked on it. His brother scoffed at the fluffy haired boy._

_"M-mama, l-look! I-I improved o-on my test!" He stuttered out, shakily holding the paper in front of him. His stared at his mother hopefully, trying his best to ignore the mocking glare his brother placed on him. But his mother's frown made all his hopefulness disappear._

_"Tsu-kun, yes, you did improved," Mama said, causing the boy's eyes to widen in happiness. "But," the boy's shoulders slumped a bit. "-You still didn't pass the test. Look at Na-kun!" She held the other boy's paper in front of the fluffy haired boy, causing him to flinch back a feet. "He got 100% **again **on his test! Why can't you be more like Na-kun? Mama doesn't mind if you aren't good at PE and others, but at least be a good student. Why are you always so dame, Tsu-kun?"_

_By then, the little boy was on the verge of tears. Taking the paper back with shaky hands and turning, he ran out the door quickly so that his mama and brother wouldn't see him cry. As soon as the boy's out of the door, mama turned towards the other boy, who had been smiling gleefully at his brother's retreating form, and said, "well, to celebrate your 100%, mama will cook hamburgers tonight!"_

_The fluffy haired boy who had been hiding behind the kitchen door, finally broke down to tears hearing his mother's announcement and his brother's happy cheering._

Seeing the scene, Naruto let out a sigh of relief. At least this boy has a family, unlike him, who is an orphan and is hated by everyone. "Wow...another gravity-defying hair...just like Kakashi sensei's..." Naruto commented after the scene's over. Suddenly, a voice echoed around him. It took him a moment to realize the voice was the thoughts of the fluffy haired boy's.

_Why doesn't mama like me? Why can't she congratulate me too? Why isn't she happy that I improved? Do I have to get a 100% in order to get her to smile at me? Is that what it takes to make a mother happy?_

_Why is Natsu the one getting everything? Everyone in school, in this town, likes him. He is popular, smart, and is an awesome basketball player. Everyone adores him. While I'm weak, clumsy, 'dame', stupid, nonathletic...everyone hates me. Was it because I'm not 'good' like Natsu? Do I have to be 'awesome' like Natsu to gain everyone's acknowledgement? Is that what it takes?_

Hearing the boy's thoughts, Naruto was reminded of how he, in his childhood, was always jealous of the attention Sasuke was getting, especially from Sakura. How he hated people to laugh when they heard his Hokage dream. How he hated Sasuke to beat him in everything. How he hated everyone to have someone love them and care for them while he has no one. Not until he met Iruka sensei that is.

_But I can't do it. I'm 'dame'. I'm no-good Tsuna. I'm weak and clumsy. There's no way I'll ever become as popular as Natsu. I can't do it._

_But...I'll try. Mama said. If I'm not good at PE and other stuff, at least be a good student. I will pass the next test, definitely!_

Naruto smiled at the boy's determination. The boy seemed to have a strong will of fire burning inside him. He wished the boy had gained the acknowledgement he wanted, but as the scene began to swirl and twist into the next few scenes, Naruto changed his mind.

The fluffy haired boy really did try his best to improve his grades, but unfortunately, the classes were still too hard for him. He tried to ask the teacher for help, but they waved him off and thought he's just trying to waste their time. He tried to ask Natsu, but all he gained was mocking laughs from his brother and his admirers. He tried to ask his mother, but she just told him she is busy of caring for Natsu and so she doesn't have time to help him. With no one to help him, the boy tried to teach himself by looking through the scholastic materials at the library, but that gained him nothing since he could barely understand half of what the book says.

With his brother's mocking sneers and his mother's disappointing frowns, fluffy haired boy's confidence reduced greatly. And so, after a few weeks of trying and gaining no success, he finally gave up on gaining good grades and trying to make his mother smile at him. To him, it is an impossible task.

Naruto frowned as he watched the scenes. He remembered the time when he first asked Iruka sensei for help and got rejected terribly. At that time, Iruka sensei still hated him for being a Jinchuuriki. He remembered going into the library for help, but was kicked out by the librarian, who told him the 'demon brat' wasn't welcomed there. With no one to help him, Naruto's grades were horrible. It wasn't until the Iruka sensei finally got his sense and started helping him when he's grades finally raised a little. But still, it's only a _little_. After all, Naruto spent most of his time pulling pranks.

The scene suddenly changed to outside the house. There was a limo, not that Naruto know what a 'limo' is, and two men were standing in front of the house, one older than the other.

_-8-years old-_

_Tsuna had been running away from the angry Chihuahua that was chasing him because he accidentally stepped on its tail. He ran and ran while crying and shouting ("HIEE!") but no one came to his rescue. Of course, why would they waste their time to help 'dame-Tsuna' while this happened almost everyday? Not looking where he's running towards to, little Tsuna tripped on a rock and fell face flat onto the cold stony ground. He sniffed and tried to get up, but the sharp pain in his ankle stopped him from doing so._

_"Are you okay?" A calming voice asked from above. Tsuna looked up with his teary eyes, and found himself facing a kind-looking old man. He nodded numbly, letting the old man helping him up._

_"You! You stupid dog! Get away from my dear Tuna-fish!" A man's voice sounded behind him. Tsuna turned and saw a golden haired man with a golden beard waving his fist at the Chihuahua as the poor dog whimpered and ran away in fear. The man then turned and hugged Tsuna while exclaiming, "oh my dear Tuna-fish are you alright!? Papa scared that dog away so you don't need to worry!"_

_"'Papa'?" Tsuna tilted his fluffy head questioningly, looking rather cute, then stuttered out shyly. "I h-have no 'papa'." The man looked shocked before laughing and ruffling Tsuna's hair._

_"What are you talking about? Of course you have a 'papa' or else you wouldn't be born!" The man continued before Tsuna can reply. "Let's go see how Nana and Natsu-chan are doing! Ah~ I missed them so much!" He then led/dragged Tsuna into the house followed by the older man._

_Tsuna then watched this man who called himself his 'papa' chatted with his surprised mother. They talked mostly about Natsu. Tsuna could see the love and adore in mama's eyes when she complimented on Natsu's excellent basketball skills, and the appreciation in 'papa's eyes as he listened intensively. Tsuna then turned towards the older man and found him watching Natsu spinning a basketball on one finger while complimenting him. It wasn't until much later when 'Papa' finally asked about Tsuna._

_"Well, Tsu-kun isn't very good in school work. He tried hard but still couldn't pass his tests. He's academic grades are very bad." Nana said, frowning as she remembered all the red marks on Tsuna's papers. "Besides academics, he's **horrible **on anything related to physical. He sometimes trip on nothing and usually fall down any stairs he walked on. I wonder what's wrong, was it because Na-kun took all his sports genes? He's too clumsy and weak that made me worry, what if other kids started bullying him? Should we let him learn Karate or something?!" _

_Nana gasped as she thought of that. She had already somewhat given up on Tsuna. She tried to teach him how to be careful to not trip, but he still does. Is tripping in his genes or something? Also, with Natsu being the best student and basketball player in his school, Nana needed to spent most of her time on Natsu to make sure his grades doesn't drop while playing basketball. She doesn't have time to teach Tsuna on every single problem in his homework. So what if because Tsuna is weak and clumsy, other kids started bullying him? Should she make him learn Karate?_

_"Don't you worry, my dear Nana! Tsu-chan is still young. When he grows older, he will became stronger! Also, Na-chan will protect him since he is Tsu-chan's older brother, right?" 'Papa' patted Nana's back comfortingly, causing her worried features to relax._

_"Yeah, you're right, Na-kun is very strong. He will protect Tsu-kun." Nana smiled._

_Tsuna watched them in the nearby sofa. Each words mama said shot an arrow through his heart. It hurts. Whenever they talked about Natsu, they were always smiling and mama always used 'awesome', 'good boy', 'ace student', 'best', 'favorite' in her sentence. But when she talked about Tsuna, she only used the negative words. 'No good', 'horrible', 'failed', 'weak'... why doesn't mama compliment him..at least a little? Why can't she say things like "I give him credit for trying?" Is that really all she thinks about Tsuna? A 'failure'? A 'bad son'? Is it true that there's no way she can smile at him the same as she does to Natsu?_

_Also, why does mama trust Natsu that much? Really? Trusting Natsu to protect Tsuna is like saying magic is real. _(HP: "...")_ If only they knew how much Natsu hated him, they would never think that. Tsuna knew Natsu hated him, ever since they were five._

_At that time, mama is still fair to both of them. But because Natsu is always doing outdoor sports and getting hurt, mama started to feel that Natsu's getting hurt is an everyday thing, so she wouldn't pay that much attention to his injuries-mostly small cuts and bruises. She knew Natsu is strong and doesn't need her to tend his injuries everyday. Natsu is a big boy, he can fend for himself._

_But Tsuna is her younger son, he wasn't good at sports. In fact, he's weak at everything related to physical. He constantly trips on nothing and fall down the stairs almost everyday! Everytime that happened, Nana would rush to him and nurse his pain away and check if he twisted his ankle **again **or bumped his head too hard to bleed. Tsuna's injuries are always more severe than Natsu's, and Tsuna gets hurt like EVERYDAY, so mama usually worries and cares for Tsuna more._

_And that, Tsuna guess, made Natsu jealous._

_Natsu love attention. He always tried his best to get mama's attention. Doing good at school, being a good basketball player, being the 'perfect' son...everything he does is to get mama's attention on him, and on him only. He doesn't want mama to focus on Tsuna more. Besides, he is better, he is stronger. What did Tsuna do to deserve mama's attention? Natsu is the type of person who get easily jealoused, and seeing Tsuna getting so much attention, he started developing hatred for his younger brother._

_At least, that's what Tsuna thought made Natsu hate him._

_There's no way Natsu would care and protect Tsuna. There's more chance of his beating up Tsuna than his caring for Tsuna like how a big brother should._

_However, because Tsuna got hurt too much and too often, mama had started to turn a blind eye to some of his injuries, except the major ones. That had made Natsu happier for he doesn't constantly trip Tsuna on purpose anymore._

Naruto continued watching the scenes. Now he knew the basic background of Tsuna and his family, he isn't worried anymore. Before, he's worried that Tsuna is abused and hated like he had been in his childhood, but no. Tsuna actually had a family to care for him. At least he had someone there for him when he was hurt. But something still worried him. This Natsu boy might be the cause of this horrible mindscape...

_At the end of that day, Nana cooked a grand dinner for 'papa' and the old man before they leave. 'Papa' told his family that he is a construction worker that worked around the world and the old man, whose name is Timoteo, is his boss. Mama only laughed and cheered as 'papa' went on a rant of how hard his job was and how great of a boss Timoteo was. But Tsuna knew that 'papa' was lying and mama was acting oblivious. Who would believe that someone who dressed in suits and ties was merely a construction worker? Also, last year, Tsuna remembered mama receiving a letter containing a photo in the mail. The letter was send by someone named 'Iemitsu', who Tsuna guessed was 'papa' by how Timoteo called him, and in the letter, 'papa' said his current job required him to find oil. And the photo was him in the north pole with a bunch of penguins surrounding him._

Naruto chuckled as he heard Tsuna's thoughts. Really? North Pole and penguins? Even he knew cold places doesn't have oil!

_After reading the letter and seeing the picture, mama only laughed at how cute 'papa' looked with a bunch of penguins. Tsuna knew mama was acting oblivious on purpose because he had seen her serious side, and that was the worst nightmare he had ever seen. No one wanted mama to be angry. Even that scary Chihuahua was scared of mama. (Tsuna remembered the first time he had been chased by the Chihuahua. Mama had saved him by kicking the Chihuahua's ass and yelling at it 'if you're messing with my son you're messing with me!')_

_Also, when Natsu was six, an opponent's older brother came up to him and broke his arm for defeating said opponent in a basketball match. When mama saw his injury, she went right into that boy's house and knocked the frantic mother unconscious then beat up the two boys in a pulp. When that frantic mother woke up, mama asked (threatened and demanded) her for medical fee to fix Natsu's arm. After that frantic mother know the truth, she offered more than enough money and shooed mama away before taking her two sons to the hospital, but not before giving them a terrible scolding (that turned into a monologue since the two boys weren't listening for they were too hurt to listen)._

_After those two incidents, everyone in the neighborhood knew to NEVER ANGER NANA if you don't want to see hell._

Naruto shuddered at the two incidents. Man, Nana is even scarier than Sakura-chan! Women sure is scary!

_Why his mama would act oblivious, Tsuna never knew, but he knew better to ask, for he doesn't want his mama to get angry at him for seeing through her act._

_After the dinner, mama went to the sink to wash the dishes, 'papa' and Timoteo the Boss (Tsuna started calling him that mentally after knowing he's the Boss of 'papa', although he's not so sure if 'papa' is lying on that or not) went to the living room to chat, and Natsu went to his room to watch "Kuroko's Basketball" (he always try to mimic the characters' techniques to strengthen his basketball skills and to use in his matches), which is an anime that came out ten years ago, although it is old, the plot and techniques in the anime were awesome, that's why Natsu still watches it. Tsuna, having nothing to do, followed the two men into the living room and eavesdropped on their conversation behind the door. He's sure that if they saw him, they would change the subject, so Tsuna hid behind the door to listen to their conversation, for he's curious of what they would talk about. Maybe they would discuss 'papa's REAL job?_

_"...are you sure you want to choose right now?" Tsuna heard the older man, Timoteo the Boss, said. "They are still kids. They might change when they grew older. Besides, you've only visited them once ever since they were born. You should observe them for a few more years. I'm can still handle paperworks for a few more years."_

_"No. It's obvious which one of them is the 'Sky'." 'Papa' replied with a shook of his head. Tsuna wondered curiously. 'Sky'? What is he talking about? What 'Sky'? "Tsu-chan is weak, clumsy, timid, shy, and easily scared. Hell! He can't even handle an ugly Chihuahua! There's no way he can be the 'Sky'! After all, the 'Sky' needed to be strong, dependable, independent, and makes enemies scared and everyone else loved. He is the savior, the harmony, the 'Sky'. Tsu-chan is too weak to be the 'Sky'. Even if he does take the title of the 'Sky', everyone else wouldn't approve. Who would want a weak 'Sky' that can cause the downfall of their family? No one. So the result will be everyone leaving the family and our family will break apart."_

_The sentences were getting harder and harder to understand. What 'Sky'? What 'downfall of family'? What does 'papa' mean his family would break apart? But there's one thing Tsuna is sure. 'Papa' thinks Tsuna is weak. Every negative adjective 'papa' used on Tsuna made a crack in his heart. He could feel tears forming in his eyes. Is that what everyone thinks of him? A failure? A loser? Even his own father? (Tsuna gasped at the thought. He actually thought of 'papa' as his father! He thought he would never do that since he wouldn't approve 'papa' to be his father since he was never there when Tsuna needed him. A father should be the one who tuck him in for bed, who wiped his tears away, who taught him how to throw and catch a ball, who taught him how to protect himself from bullied, who helped them on homework, who played with him, and most importantly, who was always there for him when he needed him. But 'papa' never did any of those, so 'papa' isn't his father. Tsuna would never approve of it!)_

_"Therefore, I think Na-chan should be the one," that snapped Tsuna out of his thoughts as 'papa' continued. "You have seen Na-chan's skills in basketball! He has strength, more confidence, awesome reflex, stamina, and knew the importance of teamwork. He is the better candidate for the 'Sky' for he knew how families should work together to become more powerful. He also knew the duties of a big brother-to protect Tsu-chan," Tsuna wanted to snort, but kept silence since he doesn't want them to know his presence. Seriously? Duties of a big brother? He's joking! If only he knew how Natsu treated Tsuna... "He knew how to protect someone, and a 'Sky' needed to be protective. All in all, Na-chan has everything a 'Sky' needed. He is the better candidate. I'm sure of that!" 'Papa' finished with a determined look. Timoteo the Boss sighed._

_"Well, if you're so sure, then I'll make him begin his training **when he's older**." Timoteo said before 'papa' could cheer. "Natsu-kun is too young. He's not ready to be the 'Sky' yet. I want him to have a happy childhood and enjoy what being a normal kid is like, before introducing him into the dark world." 'Dark world'? Are they talking about a movie? Tsuna thought. "Besides, if he left with us, then the Sawada household will only consist of two people. Don't you think it's too lonely for them? Although Nana-san is oblivious to everything, she would still be sad if not only her husband left her, but also her dear son. Also, Natsu-kun can practice his protective skills by being with Tsuna-kun. I'm sure Tsuna-kun will be bullied someday, and if that day comes, Natsu-kun will have to stand up for his brother. That way, he will learn how to protect someone and how to fight through experience. The more experience he had with protecting and fighting, the more ready he will be when he knows the truth."_

_Tsuna left after hearing that. He doesn't want to hear it anymore. Why does everyone thinks Natsu is the better son? Why does everyone thinks Natsu will protect Tsuna if he's bullied? Why does everyone only see the 'good' side of Natsu and not the 'jealous and attention seeking' side? Why does everyone only sees the defects of Tsuna? He admits, comparing to his brother, he's horrible. But, Tsuna still has something he's good at! He's hardworking and honest. He would help anyone who needed help. He would NEVER trip someone on purpose, unlike Natsu. He is fair and treats everyone fairly, unlike Natsu, who does everything for his own benefits, and if someone has something he wanted, he would do anything, ANYTHING, to get it. Why can't anyone see Natsu's defect? Are they all blind? First is mama, switching her attention to Natsu because he's better. Now 'papa' and Timoteo the Boss think Natsu is the better 'Sky', whatever that is, just because he's an ace student and is good at basketball. Tsuna hated it!_

_Tears finally streamed down his face. Tsuna had had enough. There's nothing he could do. He tried, he tried so hard to gain people's attention! All he wanted is a little attention and understanding from someone, and a smile from mama. A genuine smile that's for him only. Every time mama looked at him, she was always frowning. She never looked happy._

_Of course. A small voice said in Tsuna's head. Why would she be happy to have a disgraced son who failed at everything and brings shame to the family? Why would Natsu be happy to have an idiotic brother that made him, the big brother, a laughing stock? Why would 'papa' and Timoteo the Boss choose you to be the 'Sky' when you were crying and chased by a Chihuahua in front of them while Natsu showed off how awesome his basketball skills were? It's not their fault for not giving you the attention you wanted. It's all your own fault for being **weak**. You're a disgrace. You would only bring shame and disappointment to your family. You are a failure. You can't do anything right. No one likes you, because you are 'dame-Tsuna'._

_Yeah you're right. Tsuna replied mentally, to whom he doesn't know. I'm a failure. There's no way I can be better than Natsu. So I guess I should just continue be dame-Tsuna. Do what I'm best at (tripping and failing). I'll give Natsu the attention he wanted. That way, everyone can be happy._

_That night, with that thought lingering in his head, Tsuna went to sleep, determined to make everyone happy. If he can't do anything right, then he at least want everyone to be happy. To at least be able to do something._

_But..._

_...why does his heart hurt so much?_

* * *

Naruto finished watching that scene with a sigh. He doesn't know what to say anymore. This boy is too nice. WAY to nice. He's giving up just like that!? Just because three people doesn't like him, and probably more from school, he's giving up!? Just because he can't do anything right, he's changing his goal to making everyone happy!? Naruto couldn't believe it. When he's younger, he's hated by EVERYONE in the village, which, is like over thousands of people. They not just HATED him, but also tried to MURDER him. This boy only had a few people dislike him. In fact, they don't dislike him, they just doesn't give him attention and understanding. Just because of that, he's giving up?! This boy is too weak. Really, way too weak.

The next few scenes showed Tsuna's interaction with Natsu. Apparently, that night before the two men left, they told Natsu to be a good brother and protect Tsuna, and Natsu agreed with a few eager nods. They failed to see the evil glint in his eyes however.

As they grew up, Natsu began hating Tsuna more and more, for some reasons. He doesn't personally cause Tsuna pain anymore. Instead, he told his friends (bullies) to bully Tsuna. And every time right before they finished beating up Tsuna, Natsu would show up and 'help' Tsuna. That made everyone who saw the scene compliment on how nice Natsu is.

Time passed. Gossips spread.

People, especially those older women who loved to gossip around, often said those in their conversation:

"Oh, do you know that older boy of the Sawadas? How I wish to have a son like him! He's an ace student, excellent basketball player, and protects his younger brother, dame-Tsuna, every time he's bullied!"

Or...

"Oh my god! Did you hear?! That Sawada boy, Natsu, won the championship for his school again!"

Or...

"You should have seen it! He showed up like a hero, and stood in front of his brother! Oh I wish my son can be more like him!"

Time after time, Natsu became the hero brother and awesome son, while Tsuna, 'dame-Tsuna', became a disgrace to his family in everyone's eyes. Every time they talked about Tsuna, they would called him 'dame-Tsuna', 'the weaker one', 'the younger brother', 'the one always got bullied', or 'the failure in his family'. However, they never said any of those things in front of Nana, for fear of her angers.

Nana was worried that her wish had came true. Tsuna did got bullied. But she was happy that Natsu was there to protect him.

Tsuna, at first, thought that Natsu was really trying to do his big brother's duties right and protect him from bullies. But when one day he followed the bullies right after the beating, he found them laughing with Natsu while Natsu complimented them on their bullying skills. That's when Tsuna realized everything Natsu did was an act. At school and at home, he's an ace student and a good son, but the truth is he's the one who's secretly controlling all the bullies.

After school, bullies would threaten younger students for money, then sometimes Natsu would stand up for the younger kids, but not after the bullies took the money away. Because of that, every students thinks Natsu is a hero. He's their protector, their savior. Everyone looked up to Natsu, just like what their parents told them, "be a good boy like Natsu."

In front of other people, Natsu always acted very motherly and caring towards Tsuna. But when they were alone, he would show his true side. He would mock, threaten, and sneer at Tsuna. He would beat him up, or force him into dangerous situations. Tsuna doesn't understand why Natsu would do that to him. If it's because Natsu is jealous, then isn't it a bit too much? Also, Natsu is the one gaining all the attention right now, so why would he be jealous of 'dame-Tsuna', the disgraced son in everyone's eyes?

Once when they were alone, Tsuna managed to gather up his courage and ask Natsu, ask him why he hated Tsuna that much. To his surprise, Natsu didn't sneer at him or call him 'dame-Tsuna' as usual; instead, he looked raged and jealous, and he yelled, "JUST STOP YOUR DAMN ACT TSUNA!"

Tsuna doesn't understand what he mean by 'acting'. Wasn't Natsu the one who's acting all the time?

After that incident, Natsu seemed to hate Tsuna even more. He didn't just beat Tsuna up anymore. He went even more extreme. He would 'accidentally' bump him just when a car drove by. Or he would sometimes push Tsuna out of his window, causing him to roll onto the roof edge, which, luckily, protected him from falling. He would even command his 'friends' to spread nasty rumors about Tsuna, hurting Tsuna emotionally. But most of the times, he would just tear up Tsuna's homework and throw it away.

Once, after Natsu 'accidentally' bumped Tsuna into a car, Tsuna managed to dodge the hit but his leg wasn't so lucky. The result was his staying in the hospital for two months. After that incident, Tsuna became extremely terrified of Natsu. If Natsu would go as far as trying to kill him in an 'accident', who knows what he would do next? Putting Potassium Cyanide in his drink? Splashing acid all over him? Therefore, Tsuna tried to tell mama secretly about the bullying, hoping mama can stop Natsu from hurting Tsuna even more. But of course, mama doesn't believe Tsuna. Who would believe that their overprotective son would push his favorite brother (yeah right) into a car?! How could everything Natsu did be an act? What possessed Natsu, who protected Tsuna all the time, to want to kill Tsuna? The reason?

No reason.

That's why Nana thought that Tsuna is lying. Tsuna probably was jealous of the attention his brother was getting, that's why he would blame Natsu so Natsu's reputation would be ruined. Believing that's the real reason, Nana was furious at Tsuna. How could he blame his protective older brother for something so serious?! How could he! Nana didn't talk to Tsuna for a whole week. When she does talk to him, she would only greet him or call him down for dinner. She doesn't even tend his injuries anymore.

But what Nana doesn't know, is that, unfortunately, Natsu had heard their conversation. To punish Tsuna for telling mama, Natsu gave Tsuna a nasty beating personally that resulted with a dislocated arm, a broken hand, and five broken ribs. It was a younger student who found Tsuna surrounded by a pool of blood and called the ambulance.

Nana didn't visit her son that time, thinking it's just a normal beating from the bullies and Natsu was probably the one who called the ambulance. Besides, she was still mad at Tsuna.

Ever since the horrible beating and waking up in a hospital bed with no one around him, Tsuna became silent and cautious around his family. He kept to himself as much as possible, knowing mama doesn't care for him anymore and would feel annoyed if he constantly asked her about this and that. He doesn't tell her about his injuries anymore. He would take care of them himself. Ever since the car accident and the beatings, Tsuna became extremely scared of Natsu. He doesn't want anymore broken (possibly smashed) bones and murder attempts, so he never told anyone about Natsu's true side. He would just let Natsu do whatever he wanted to as long as he's happy. To Tsuna, an angry Natsu is almost as scary as an angry mama. He would do everything he can to prevent his brother from being angry and try to murder him again.

* * *

The memories ended here. By the end of the scene, Naruto was deep in thoughts. He could tell something was wrong. There's a missing piece somewhere. Only if he could find what the missing piece was, everything would make sense. He just need the key.

First, which is also the one that intrigued him the most: What does Natsu mean by "JUST STOP YOUR DAMN ACT TSUNA"? Wasn't he the one who's acting, not Tsuna?

Second: Why is Natsu so vicious towards Tsuna? Why is he so cold-blooded? They are brothers; they are family. They were born together, lived together. Even if Natsu was filled with hatred, there must be a tiny spark of care inside of him. Where is that care? Why does he act as if he doesn't care for Tsuna's life? Does he really want Tsuna to die?

Third: Why is Natsu so jealous of Tsuna? If the reason he's jealous is that Tsuna gets more attention than Natsu, then he should have reached his goal already. He already turned his mother's attention towards him. His brother, Tsuna, became 'dame-Tsuna' and was looked down upon by everyone while he became the perfect son in everyone's eyes. What else does Tsuna has that he doesn't? What else is he jealous of? If the reason of his hatred isn't Jealousy, then what is? What is the reason?

Forth: What are Iemitsu and Timoteo hiding? What are their real jobs? Construction workers doesn't go to North Pole and take pictures with penguins. Construction workers don't have money to buy suits and ties. What's their secret?

Fifth: This one has been bugging Naruto a lot. What are 'cars'?

Sixth: In this town they lived in, why are there only civilians? Where are the ninjas? If this isn't a ninja village, ugghh, town, then where was this town located on the map? Every village on the map is a ninja village. So could this town be off the map? Also, why were they dressed so weirdly? Where were the clans? But knowing Madara, Naruto had a feeling that he's been send to somewhere unexpected. Last time, Madara send Naruto and Sakura to an alternate universe he created in which everything is switched. Sakura's father is Yondaime. Sasuke is a playboy. Shikamaru is stupid. Ino is shy. Kiba hates dogs and loves cats. Shino is afraid of bugs. Akatsuki were mercenaries. And most importantly, Naruto, whose name was Menma in that universe, is evil and controls a dark Kyuubi. He later destroyed three-forth of Konoha with one jutsu... What if he's in another universe? Then everything would make sense. The advanced technologies, the strange way they dressed...

Seventh: Oh and talking about dark Kyuubi, where's Kyuubi?

Naruto sighed. Thinking was never his thing. He's already feeling dizzy from information overload. Oh, how he wished Shikamaru is here! He can probably point out more suspicious spots and create a long list of possible reasons of Natsu's hatred towards Tsuna. Damn, why doesn't Madara sent Shikamaru with him! He needs more brain cells! ARGHH!

Naruto rubbed his temples and exited the room. He needed some fresh air, but too bad, he only received rotten egg smell. Sighing once again dejectedly, Naruto couldn't help but groan as he tramped forward. Why does everything happen to him? Why can't he have a rest? Why are there always new enemies popping out of nowhere? First, he killed Orochimaru, then, he just had to come back alive! And not just him, but also the Akatsuki members! Why can't the enemies just STAY DEAD!? Does he have to spent his entire life fighting the same enemies over and over again as some stupid people revived them again and again?! HE WANTED SOME REST!

But maybe, this is his chance for a rest. After all, who knows where he is right now. Maybe Madara had send him to an alternate universe! And in this universe, there is no ninjas, no more enemies hunting for his life! He can finally get a rest for once! Until people in his universe managed to find a way to bring him back that is, because Naruto has absolutely no idea how to jump from universe to universe. If he wanted to go back, it will either be Madara nice enough to bring him back, or Tsunade baa-chan finding a way with his friends. Finally, he can have a rest!

Feeling much better, Naruto continued his way forward happily. He hasn't seen any doors yet, so he kept walking and walking until...there! He saw one! There's a dark orange door on the left wall, but it was placed right next to a turning point of the narrow passageway. Which way should he go? Walking closer to the turning point, Naruto felt a sense of familiarity rising inside of him. He's been here before. Wherever this turning point led him to, he's sure he had came here before.

Oh well, he'll go explore later. After all, he has all the time in the world to spent. So Naruto trod closer to the orange door to explore it first, and found a placard placed on the door. It says: Control Room.

"Control Room? Did that mean I can control this body?" Naruto mumbled curiously, and pushed open the door. Inside was a large screen that was pitch black. In front of the screen is a small table with a microphone attached on top. "Interesting..." Naruto muttered, tapping the microphone curiously.

Just at that moment, the screen glowed and an image appeared, as if the owner of this body had just woken up...

* * *

**AN: **I find it ridiculous that many people favorited my story but just won't leave a DAMN REVIEW! If you like my story enough to favorite it, don't you think it's fair and _polite_ to leave a review to tell me what you think of my story? I've seen stories with over hundreds of favorites and follows but have only 50 or so reviews! It's unbelievable! So please, people, readers, favoriters, followers, leave a review plz! I don't care if you leave one or two reviews, just show me that you are actually liking my story through _words_. Thank you!

**PS: **Sorry for my ranting, blame it on my dark side ;D


	2. Chapter 2 A Ninja & The Fallen Rain

**Naruto's talk**

_Tsuna's thoughts_

**Disclaimer: **Part of the passage of ANBU is copied from Narutopedia.

* * *

**Updated: **Mar. 18, 2014. 6:22 AM (yes, I stayed up all night)

**Chapter 2 Enters a Ninja and The Fallen Rain**

The screen showed a brown haired boy sleeping peacefully on a bed, while a blond haired boy crept up to his bed with a gigantic steel hammer. (Think of Reborn's.) Naruto, surprised yet curious, watched the scene in third person's view...

KABOOM!

"WAKE UP, DAME-TSUNA!"

Something landed heavily next to Tsuna's head followed by a shout, which caused repetitive ringings in his ears. Tsuna snapped open his eyes and sat up quickly, waving his hands around in an attempt to protect himself from some invisible weapons as he shouted, "I'm awake! I'm awake!" Hearing a snort from beside his bed, Tsuna focused his eyes on the gigantic steel hammer, that had created a small pit on his bed, then on the person next to him. As soon as he saw the person, Tsuna widened his eyes in fear and began stuttering immediately, "N-Natsu! I'm a-awake now! You d-don't have to do t-that everyday!"

"Hn!" Natsu snorted as he swung the hammer over his shoulder. Tsuna cowered, afraid that Natsu might try to hit him. "Whatever I do is not your business." He then stared intensively into Tsuna's eyes, frowned, and walked out of the room.

Tsuna couldn't help but gawk at Natsu's retreating figure.

Was that _disappointment _he saw on Natsu's face?

Shaking his head, Tsuna convinced himself that it must have been a trick of light. There's no way Natsu would be _disappointed_, right? Besides, what is he disappointed about? Not hearing Tsuna's girly shriek? As he began dressing, Tsuna thought about all the different methods Natsu had used to wake him up. Some of them were useful, some of them were just downright scary! He remembered waking up once feeling hard to breath, only to find a hairy tarantula covering his nose and mouth! (He's sure Natsu only did it for entertainment, not to actually wake him up)

Natsu was always the early riser because he needed to go to school early to for his basketball club morning practice (he's the Captain). Before he left for school, he always wake Tsuna up using his scary methods. Tsuna doesn't understand why he bothered. Seeing how Natsu even went as far as trying to kill him, he must've hated Tsuna _a lot_. So why does he bother to wake him up everyday? If he truly hated Tsuna, shouldn't he left him to be late for school? Besides, mama had never requested Natsu to wake Tsuna up, so why does he bother? Is he doing it for an act or does he have other reasons?

Adding some water to flatten his spiky hair (not that it worked), Tsuna had a feeling that something is going to happen today. Something not exactly good, but...just different. Tsuna trusted his intuition a lot. After all, it had never failed before. His intuition had saved him many times from Natsu's past murder attempts.

Walking down to the kitchen, Tsuna caught sight of his mom preparing bento on the counter, and greeted, "good morning, mom."

Looking up at the voice, Nana forced a smile on her face and replied, "good morning, Tsu-kun! Your breakfast is on the table. Ah! Here's your bento!" She handed him the nicely wrapped bento box then turned to wash the dishes. Tsuna sighed as he sat down on the table and started eating his breakfast.

He knew mama wasn't the type to hold a grudge, therefore, her reaction to him isn't because she is still angry at him for 'lying' and 'blaming Natsu', which happened about five years ago.

During that incident, Nana had been especially mad at Tsuna. She hated people who blames innocents, and to know that own son was one! Nana couldn't believe that her innocent and clumsy little Tsuna actually tried to blame Natsu, who had been protecting him for his whole life! After Nana had gotten over her anger at Tsuna, she tried to act normal but she doesn't trust Tsuna as much as before. She still believed that Tsuna was trying to ruin Natsu's reputation by blaming him for the car accident, but she tried not to let it affect her relationship to Tsuna.

However, after hearing many rumors of Tsuna (that Natsu told his 'friends' to spread) which all sounded very believable and real, she couldn't help but believe those nasty rumors. Some said that after Natsu came to save Tsuna from the bullies, Tsuna had ran away, leaving Natsu to be beat up by the bullies. Some said that Tsuna had blamed Natsu for his missing homeworks, which seemed very likely, since Nana had personally saw Tsuna blaming Natsu for something he didn't do. Because Nana's trust for Tsuna wasn't as great as before, after hearing all those 'likely' rumors, Nana's relationship with Tsuna became more and more distanced. They don't talk to each other as much as before (only necessary greetings and such) and both tried to avoid any interaction with each other as much as possible. However, Natsu seemed to be oblivious of their weird behavior.

Tsuna knew mama believed those rumors and that's why she's been distancing herself to him, but there's nothing he could do about it (not that he could tell her the truth and have Natsu try to murder him again). Mama was very stubborn when she got her mind fixed on something. No matter who tries to persuade her, she would only believe in what she sees. And after the incident five years ago and seeing Tsuna blaming Natsu for something he 'didn't' do, mama doesn't trust Tsuna anymore, and Tsuna knew it. That's why Tsuna followed mama's lead and distanced himself from her too.

Finishing his breakfast quietly, Tsuna placed the dishes in the sink. He then took the bento box and his bag and exited the house, replying to his mother's "be good and don't cause trouble" with a simple and quiet "okay, I'm leaving."

* * *

Naruto watched the scene in the screen, remembering the time when he was taking Menma's spot, eating dinner with his family. The happiness of the memory almost brought tears to his eyes. He couldn't leave them like this. Mother and son should not act like this. But how should he fix it?

* * *

Walking on the road to school, Tsuna was too busy thinking of his lonely life to notice three scary looking teens walking up to him with gleeful look on their face.

"Oof!" Tsuna yelped in surprise as he bumped into the middle of the three guys. "S-sorry!" He muttered as soon as he took in their appearance.

The middle teen sneered, "yo! Isn't this dame-Tsuna? Seems like we're lucky!" He laughed then asked, "I don't think we have enough money to spent today. Do you mind borrowing us some?"

"B-but I-"

"Aww c'mon!" He swung an arm around Tsuna's shoulder and cut of his useless stuttering. Sneering at Tsuna's shaking figure, he continued. "Be nice! We promise we'll return it! Right?" He asked the other two guys as they nodded eagerly. But Tsuna could tell they were lying. After all those years of seeing Natsu's act, Tsuna was especially good with telling someone's true emotions.

"I-I'm sorry, but I c-can't-" Tsuna mumbled as he tried to squirm out of the guy's grasp, but it was no use.

"We asked nicely but you refused. Seems like you're asking for some punishments, huh?" The guy then put Tsuna in a headlock as he motioned the other two to attack.

Tsuna closed his eyes, bracing himself for the upcoming pain, but...

**Elbow him in the gut!**

A voice said in his mind. Tsuna snapped open his eyes just as a fist dug into his stomach. He gasped out in pain and mentally asked. _What?_

**I said, elbow him in the gut! Or pinch his balls! Both can get you out of this headlock-ttebayo!**

_A-alright._

Seemingly confused but left with no choice, Tsuna chose the first option and struck the headlocker's stomach with his elbow, earning a sharp intake of breath from the guy as he let go of Tsuna.

_N-now what?_

Tsuna asked mentally, feeling somewhat stupid for asking himself (or not?) for advice, but he has no choice. The mysterious voice's advice does help after all.

**Now RUN you idiot!**

_O-okay!_

Following the advice, Tsuna ran as if his life was depending on it (it actually was) and stopped only until he reached an isolated alley. He then thought back to what had just happened. First, he was attacked by bullies. Then...there's a voice in his mind that helped him escape?

Tsuna let out a small chuckle as he thought of the ridiculous idea. There's no way there's a voice in his mind that doesn't belong to his...

**Actually, it does.**

"Hieee!" Tsuna let out a girly shriek and quickly looked around to see who's talking.

**I'm in your mind, you idiot.**

"Hieee!" Tsuna shrieked again, only this time it was quieter. "W-who are you? Why are y-you in my head?"

**You don't have to talk out loud you know. If other's hear you, they would think you are crazy!**

"O-okay, alright." Tsuna coughed and closed his eyes to make him concentrate better. _So..um...who are you and what are you doing in my head?_

**I don't know why I'm here.**

Tsuna sweatdropped.

**Well, before I'm fighting Madara, my worst enemy, then he did some weird tricks, and the next second I knew, I'm in someone else's mind.**

_S-so you mean, you can see everything I'm doing right now? And read my thoughts?_

**Yup! Sorry for entering you privacy...**

_S-so are you h-human?_

**Human?! No, I'm a snake pedophile. **(Tsuna trembled with fear) **Of course I'm a human you moron! What makes you think I'm not?**

_W-well, you can enter my mind..._

**I told you! Madara was the one who forced me into your mind-ttebayo!**

_B-but you were f-fighting him, a-and you don't seemed a-all that surprised at b-being in my m-mind..._

**Well, I was surprised at first. But after a while, I got used to it. It's not like I haven't seen anything more surprising than this in my life.**

_W-wait! How long have you b-being in my mind?!_

**Uhhghh...before you woke up today morning?**

_Hieee! So w-what did you see?! Did you do anything to my mind?!_

**Uhh...not really, just a little memories...**

_A little?_

**Okay, maybe not a little. Some?**

_SOME!?_

**Okay fine. All of it ever since you were seven.**

_HIEEEE! Y-you i-intruder! You entered m-my mind and looked t-through my memories without my p-permission! I'll t-tell the police!_

**Sure. Go ahead. Oh, please tell them, "someone named Naruto entered my mind without my permission and now he won't get out." Yeah, as if they would believe you. They might even sent you to a mental hospital! Ha!**

_B-but you can't just see my privacy...it's not fair!_

**(Sigh) Fine. Since I know about your privacy, how about I let you know mine?**

_T-that sounds fair. So h-how do we do this?_

**I let you ask me ten questions. You can ask anything you want, and I'll answer them truthfully. How's that?**

_B-but how d-do I know if you lie o-or not?_

**UZUMAKI NARUTO NEVER LIES! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! **! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! **! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !******

_O-okay! Okay! No need to yell! Ouch my ears...no..my mind..._

**Haha! Now, on with the game-ttebayo!**

_Okay. Question one…ughh…well…how do you look like?_

**Seriously? That's what you wanted to know?**

_Well, I can't think of anything else to ask!_

**Fine. I have blond hair, blue eyes, three whisker marks on each cheek…**

_Hiee!? Are you s-sure you are human!?_

**Of course I'm human! I'm just born like that! Got a problem with it!?**

_N-no! No problem at all!_

**Good. Now let's see..where am I? Oh right. Whisker marks, and average height for my age, oh, I'm 16 by the way, which is like 5 foot 5. I wore an orange and black jumpsuit and blue ninja sandals. And a weapon pouch was attached to my back pocket. Yeah, that's about it.**

_N-ninja?!_

**Yeah, I'm a ninja. That's counts as question two by the way.**

_H-how did you b-become a ninja?_

**Well, where I lived, there's a ninja academy that childrens go to if they wanted to become a ninja. Childrens usually started academy at age 5 and the age they graduate depends on their skills. Some kids take 3 years, some, like me, took six years. I graduated at age 12.**

_T-this….I never heard of this n-ninja academy before. Where do you live? _Tsuna was becoming more and more relaxed as he chatted with Naruto, so his stuttering began to stop.

**I live in a village called Konoha.**

_Can you describe it?_

**Okay, that's question five by the way. Konoha is a part of the elemental countries…(minus 500 words of description), yeah, so we basically form alliances between villages to become stronger. Each village is led by someone called a 'kage'. Konoha's 'kage' is called 'Hokage', just like Suna's 'kage' is called 'kazekage'. Hokage is the strongest person in the entire village. To be a 'Kage', you need to be a ninja. In our village, ninjas live to protect the village and the civilians. To die for their village is a honor to them. In fact, those who died protecting their village would get their names marked on a stone called the 'Memorial Stone'.**

**We would receive missions from civilians in our village and or other villages and rank them according to their difficulty. The lowest, D ranked, are for Genins, who were ninjas who had just graduated from the academy. D ranked are like…painting the fence, finding a cat…easy but annoying stuff like that. C ranked are for Genins and Chunins, and would require one to go outside the village, but wouldn't face many danger. The first C ranked I got with my team ended up being an A ranked mission, and we were only a Genins, who just graduated from the academy! Anyway…B ranked are for Chunins and Jonins. A ranked are for Jonins, ANBU, Hokage, and other higher ranked ninjas. Most of A ranked requires assassinating S-ranked criminals... Oh, if you are a ninja and you left the village, you would become a rogue ninja, which was also called a 'missing-nin'. You would get ranked as D, C, B, A, or S and would get on the Bingo Book. Everyone who's on the Bingo Book is a target of assassination and people who killed them successfully would get rewards based on the missing-nin's rank. PS: Most S ranked missing-nins are Hokage level, super freaking hell-ish strong.**

**Anyway, every village also have something called ANBU, which was short for "Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai". Literally meaning "Special Assassination and Tactical Squad". They take orders directly from the 'Kage', perform special high-level missions, such as assassinations and torture. They were all hand picked by the 'Kage' him/herself, chosen for their individual capabilities and special skills. Age, gender, background, or previous rank bear no weight in this decision.**

**Uhh, I think that's about it, huh? Sorry, it's so much. Are you confused?**

_Um..yeah a little. But I think I understood most of them. It's just like those in movies and comics, very similar. Especially the mission ranking and stuff. They were easy to understand. I have another question though. You said you got an A ranked mission when you were just a Genin? How did you pass it alive? And who's in your team?_

**That counts as question six and seven. I'll introduce my team first. When you graduate the ninja academy, you'll be placed on a team of three graduates and one Jonin. We then did missions together as a team. Always as a team. And our team...trust me...it's the weirdest team ever. Our team consists of a Jonin, Hatake Kakashi, a very perverted Jonin, Uchiha Sasuke, the most popular boy in our year, who was also the top of the class and most of the girls, and some boys, in our class were his fan, Haruno Sakura, smartest in the class, the girl I had a crush on ever since I was six, who hated my guts and loved Sasuke with all her hearts, and me, Uzumaki Naruto, the deadlast of the class, who failed all the subjects and was a laughing stock of everyone. Weird huh? Handsome and cool, beautiful and smart, and me, stupid and weak. Weirdest team ever.**

_S-so you mean, you were like me? The one who failed in everything?_

**Well, not exactly in everything...I'm awesome in pulling pranks and I have awesome stamina! I'm able to pull pranks all around the village and outrun ALL ANBU chasing after me for HOURS ever since I was six! But other than that, I'm pretty weak in the academy. I'm the deadlast of the class. I even failed the graduation exam, but luckily, I got a second chance.**

**Our team was a joke, really. Our Jonin sensei was a pervert. When he fights us, he always had a porn book in hand and giggles pervertedly and never paid us any attention. But still, he managed to defeat us every time. We only got past him once because I tricked him into believing I knew the ending of his porn book and is going to spoil it out loud for him. Sasuke bastard always calls me 'dobe' and 'usuratonkachi' while I responded with 'teme'. But whenever we fought, I lost most of the times since no one really bothered to teach me anything at the academy, except Iruka-sensei, since they all hated me.. Anyway, we fight almost all the time, but we still established some sort of brother-rival bond. Anyhow, Sakura always stayed on the side and fawn over her dear 'Sasuke-kun' and yell at me whenever I landed a hit on Sasuke. Every time I greeted her or even talked to her, she would punch me hard in the face and yell, "SHUT UP NARUTO-BAKA! YOU'RE ANNOYING SASUKE-KUN!" Yeah, basically, she was a crazy fangirl back then.**

_What do you mean back then? Did she changed?_

**Well...yeah, she did...after some...incidents... Anyway! C-ranked! Okay, my first C-ranked goes like this...**

Tsuna knew Naruto was hiding something, but his intuition told him not to ask. He had a feeling it's something that's very important to Naruto... As he half-heartedly listened to Naruto rambling about Zabuza and A-ranked missing-nin, he thought about all the information he had just heard. Ninjas... Does ninjas really exist? It seemed like Naruto was too focused on bragging about him defeating Zabuza to notice Tsuna's thoughts, so Tsuna continued thinking. When Naruto managed to get out of his head, what should he do? He's actually very curious about this Konohagakure place. He wanted to see what the ninjas can do. After all, he had only heard of ninjas from TV and comics. He can't wait to actually see them! And that ninja academy...he wondered if they would except older students like him or not. Maybe he can join the academy and learn self-defense?

It was then Tsuna suddenly thought of something...

_Hey Naruto._

**...then I used my Shadow Clone Jutsu and...**

_Hey!_

**...beat him into a bloody pulp and..**

_UZUMAKI NARUTO!_

**Huh wait what? Who's attacking? What?**

_Naruto. I was wondering..._

**Yeah?**

_What do you mean that...they all hated you?_

**...**

_You know, when you said you never learned anything at the academy because no one bothered to teach you, you said they hated you. Why is that?_

**...**

_Naruto?_

**...Well...I...**

"Ding Ding!"

A bell ringing sound caught their attention. As soon as he realized what the sound means, Tsuna almost cursed, "oh my god! I'm late! Ahh Hibari-sempai's so gonna kill me!"

**Hibari?**

"He's a prefect in Namimori-chuu. You'll see him soon, I'm sure of it!" Tsuna quickly collected himself and ran towards Namimori-chuu. As expected, Hibari was leaning beside the entrance gate, smirking maliciously at him.

"For being late to school, I'll bite you to death." He launched and began swinging his tonfas at Tsuna. Tsuna tried his best to dodge, which was hard with Naruto's constantly yelling "**left! No, right! Damn you move too slow! Watch your back!**" At the end, he still got beaten up badly and had to limp to class.

* * *

Tsuna entered the classroom, limping, and tried to ignore the mocking laughter and whispers as he stumbled to his seat. He hoped he can get through this period unharmed, but unfortunately, Lady Luck wasn't on his side.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi!" A familiar voice called out. Tsuna snapped his head towards that direction and answered his homeroom teacher, Nezu-sensei, with a timid "Hai!" Nezu sneered as he continued, "late again huh Tsunayoshi? Ignoring your brother's wake up call as usual hmm?" Everyone snickered. Tsuna looked down with a red face and in the corner of his eyes, he could see Natsu scanning his wounds with interest and...concern? What's up with his brother these days?

"Sawada Tsunayoshi." Tsuna was snapped out of his thoughts as a familiar piece of paper was thrust in front of his face. He took it and examined it. On top, it says... "Congratulation on being the last of the class and for scoring 26%, bringing the class's average down _again_!" Everyone laughed at Nezu's announcement. Tsuna tried to hide his red face behind the paper as he limped towards his seat. But unfortunately, Naruto's warning came too late "**watch your feet!**" for he tripped over someone's feet. Everyone laughed once again while Tsuna blushed furiously and got up as quickly as he could and stumbled to his seat.

"Yamamoto Takeshi." Nezu called out again once everyone's quiet. Yamamoto stood up and, with his usual carefree smile, went up to Nezu for his testing paper. "32%." With sarcasm, Nezu announced, "congratulation on being the second last of the class, Yamamoto. Maybe you should just quit baseball and join Sawada on competing for the 'number 1' seat of the class, hmm? After all, baseball is pulling you down." Many remained quiet (mostly fans of Yamamoto's) but some snickered quietly.

Yamamoto still had his carefree smile on but Tsuna could tell it was a bit strained. "Thanks for the suggestion, but I think I'll turn down the offer. I really like baseball."

"Hmm? Sure, your choice. But don't regret it when you won't be able to graduate middle school because of your horrible grade." Nezu handed the test to Yamamoto then began calling for the next student.

Tsuna spend the rest of the class period staring at Yamamoto. He's knew the power of words, and he's worried of the effect it would have on Yamamoto. He hoped he can help Yamamoto when he needed help.

* * *

It was PE and they were playing baseball. As usual, no one wanted to choose dame-Tsuna to be on their team. Therefore, Tsuna is the only one left.

"You take him!"

"No way! We don't want to lose!"

"We don't want to either!"

"You can have him!"

"Ma, ma!" A soft voice called out, turning everyone's attention to said person. Tsuna looked up with hopeful eyes at Yamamoto. "Don't fight about little things like that! We'll take him, sensei!"

"W-wait! Yamamoto! Why do you do that? We'll lose for sure!" One student protested, but Yamamoto merely chuckled. "Aw com'on, don't be too competitive! It's just a game!"

And so, the game began. And as expected, Tsuna's team lost. Even though Yamamoto had hit three homeruns for their team, they still lost because of the unbelievable numbers of 'fouls' Tsuna had made.

"You are cleaning, dame-Tsuna! After all, it's all your fault!" The student who protested at the beginning forced the broom into Tsuna's hand as they left.

"W-wait! Where are you going!?" A surprised voice called out, turning Tsuna's attention to them. He then saw Yamamoto and _Natsu _walking towards him.

"I'm sorry, but I can't leave my brother here to do the tiring work all by himself. I'll help him." Natsu replied with a charming smile, but Tsuna knew it was only an act. Natsu only did it to keep up his big brother's act.

"W-what about you, Yamamoto?" The surprised voice asked again. Yamamoto waved at them and laughed.

"Well, we were on the same team, so it's fair for me to help Tsuna right?"

The rest of the students soon left, leaving Tsuna, Natsu, and Yamamoto cleaning the field all by themselves. Tsuna, who was working at a far corner of the field and was pestering Naruto to tell him why the others hated him while Naruto kept on changing the subject, didn't notice the conversation that was taking place at the other end of the field.

"Ne, Natsu." Yamamoto came up to Natsu and asked. "You mind helping me out with something?"

Natsu blinked in surprise but quickly recovered as he smiled charmingly and replied, "sure, anything."

"Well...I'm not doing so well in baseball these days, and my grades had been dropping. What should I do? I know you are an excellent basketball player and an ace student. How do you be both good at sports and at studying?" Yamamoto asked, voicing the problem that was in his mind.

Natsu frowned as he tried to remember how he kept up with both sports and studying. "Well...I mostly did it with confidence and determination. I had help, and would ask for help if I needed to. Try to focus on one thing at a time. If you're studying, then don't think about baseball. If you're in a game, then don't think about homeworks or tests. That's how I do it. If you try hard, I'm sure you can do well."

"Thanks! That's a great idea! Thank you so much, Natsu!" Yamamoto beamed as he started chatting with Natsu about good testing strategies.

It all went unnoticed by Tsuna, who were listening to Naruto, as he changed the subject again, this time to Ramen...

* * *

That day after school, Tsuna was unfortunately found by the three guys in the morning. He had just been walking home, doing his thing, minding his own business, when someone pulled him into a dark alley and tackled him onto the ground.

"Oof!" Tsuna yelped as he made contact with the ground, adding more bruises to his already bruised-from-Hibari's-beating body. He quickly turned over and looked at the three scary-looking teens closing in on him.

"Yo dame-Tsuna. Miss us?" One guy said, Tsuna recognized him as the middle guy who put him in the headlock.

"Y-you!"

"Yeah me." He said and kicked Tsuna's leg, causing a numbness began to spread. Tsuna groaned.

"I-I don't have money! I r-really don't!"

"Oh?" The middle guy smirked. "But we don't want your money." Seeing Tsuna's pained but surprised face, he explained. "We just wanted to get back at you for elbowing me in the gut this morning."

And so, the beating began.

Naruto kept on yelling at Tsuna to kick them in the balls and run away, but Tsuna couldn't find the chance. It's three against one for god sake! One held his arms down. One held his legs down. And the last was the one doing all the punching and kicking. There's no opportunity to escape!

After the three guys were finally satisfied, they left the alley with misleading smirks drawn on their face, leaving a bloodied Tsuna to fend for himself.

**ARGHHH! I've had enough! You know what!?**

_What?_

Tsuna lay on the ground, too hurt and tired to move. He felt as if his limbs were made of steel...he just couldn't pick them up...

**Starting today, I'm going to teach you how to protect yourself-ttebayo! You are WAY too weak for my liking!**

_Ah great thxxxx but not today plzzzzz m tooooo tired..._

With that last thought in mind, Tsuna drifted into unconsciousness...

* * *

**I was tempted to just leave off here, but I decided to keep on writing :D So ON WITH THE STORY!**

* * *

The next day, a heavily bandaged Tsuna was found walking to school. It seemed that the three guys from yesterday were satisfied with their 'work', so they decided to leave Tsuna along for today. As soon as Tsuna entered the classroom, he sensed something wrong. First, there are too many empty seats. Second...where is Natsu? He's usually the first one to get here.

BAAM!

Someone slammed open the door and pushed past Tsuna, shouting, "did you hear?! Yamamoto is going to jump off the roof!"

Tsuna could hear a faint ringing in his ears as everyone rushed past him to get to the roof. Yamamoto is going to jump off the roof? _Yamamoto_? The one who accepted him into their team with open arms when everyone else rejected him? That _Yamamoto_?!

Without thinking, Tsuna ran out of the empty classroom and raced up the roof. He had to save Yamamoto. Yamamoto is the only one, besides the weird ninja in his mind (Naruto: Oi!), who had accepted him, despite him being 'dame-Tsuna'. He hadn't even thanked Yamamoto yet. He couldn't let him die! He just couldn't!

Throwing the door open, Tsuna was greeted with the sight of a gathering of students crowding around Yamamoto, who was at the other side of the fence, and Natsu, who was talking to him on the safer side. Tsuna squirmed closer into the crowd to hear their conversation.

"...you can't honestly think that, Yamamoto-kun!" He heard Natsu yell, looking panicked. "I thought you took my advices to heart!"

"Yeah, but I'm done for. Now that even the baseball god left me, I'm left with nothing." Tsuna then noticed the white cast that was on Yamamoto's arm. "I broke my arm while practicing baseball today morning. Now that I can't play baseball anymore, my school grades sucked, there's nothing left for me to live for anymore. I'm done for."

"W-wait!" Natsu stuttered out, trying to find the right words to say. Tsuna was surprised to hear his stutter. After all, he had never seen his confident older brother so panicked before. "But what about your father? He's the owner of 'Takesushi' right? You can't leave him to open a shop all by himself! He already lost your mother, do you think he would be happy to lost his only son too? Do you want to see his smile to falter?"

Yamamoto looked like he was pondering over Natsu's words, but at last, he only shook his head with a tired smile on his face. "No. I know my dad doesn't want a son like me. I'm always disappointing him. Failing at school, failing at winning the baseball game for our school, unlike you, Natsu. And now I broke my arm, I can't play baseball anymore. He would be even more disappointed when he found out my only future was ruined. I'm just a disgrace to my family. He would hate to have a son like me. It's better off with out me," with that said, Yamamoto made a move to jump, only to stop as he heard a muffled shout from the crowd.

"Wait!"

Yamamoto and Natsu both turned their head, and were shocked to find dame-Tsuna standing in front of them, clothes slightly wrinkled after squirming through the crowd.

"P-please wait!" Tsuna said timidly, afraid that a wrong word being said would sent Yamamoto to his death. "I-I...p-please don't j-jump!"

"Tsuna," Yamamoto said with a tired smile. He then laughed mockingly at himself. "So this is how far I've fallen. Even dame-Tsuna pities me."

"I don't pity you!" Tsuna shouted, then blushed slightly as he realized what he had just said. "I m-mean n-no o-offense, b-but..." Tsuna took a deep breath to calm himself, before saying in a more collected voice. "I wanted t-to thank you, for accepting me into your t-team when everyone else doesn't want me. You made me very happy!"

"Ma, ma! We are classmates, right? It's only fair to treat everyone the same!" Yamamoto said carefreely and smiled at Tsuna, but Tsuna could see through his forced smile.

"Y-yamamoto-kun, you don't have to force yourself to smile."

That caught Yamamoto off guard. He never expected anyone to see through his fake smile. And yet, Tsuna, _dame-Tsuna_, saw through it right away. "I d-don't know what you mean."

"I can see it! The sadness and loneliness you hid behind your mask! I could tell you were acting throughout your life!" Tsuna shouted as he peered into Yamamoto's eyes. He failed to notice Natsu stiffened behind him. "W-why? Why do you hide it all behind a smile? Why can't you let it all out!? Why do you keep on acting to cover it all up?!"

"H-how do you-"

"I know. Because I understand acting. I know what acting is like. I know how to tell an actor from a real person. They were different. Their smile, their movement, the occasional flash of truth in their eyes...I could tell it all, because...I knew someone who had been acting throughout their entire life." Tsuna finished and diverted his eyes to the ground, giving Yamamoto space to ponder it all.

"You're right Tsuna." Tsuna lifted his head and stared at Yamamoto's back with hope. Had he done it? "I'm always acting. I'm always showing a fake smile. After all, that's what people wanted, what they were looking for, right? They only wanted a baseball star-Yamamoto, not the real Yamamoto, a student who's struggling on baseball and schoolwork. They only liked me because I won many baseball games. But without baseball, I'm only a dame-student who can't pass a test. I'm just like you. But," Yamamoto let out a breath and continued. "If you can endure it and face it all while showing the real you, why can't I?"

"Y-yamamoto-kun..." Tsuna muttered, too shocked and happy to notice that his stuttering had came back. He walked closer to Yamamoto as he tried to climb back over the fence and was about to congratulate him, when the fence suddenly broke and Yamamoto fell down the roof like a sack of potatoes. (AN: Sorry I can't help it =w= I'm hungry...) Tsuna, who had gotten over his shock almost immediately, jumped after Yamamoto, ignoring Natsu who tried to grab on to him and the gasps and murmurs from the crowd as he attempted to catch Yamamoto, not thinking of the consequences. But...

Yamamoto had fallen unharmed onto the soft High Jump mat Hibari had set up below. Tsuna was about to sigh in relief when he heard Naruto shout in his mind.

**Fix your fall! You're about to land on your head! Even if the mat is bouncy it would still break your neck! Turn yourself so that you land on your back dattebayo!**

_Oh shi- but I can't! _Tsuna twist and turned, but no matter what he does, his head is still pointing downward! _It's hard to turn in midair! H-help!_

**Damn it!**

And the next second he knew...

Tsuna opened his eyes only to find himself sitting on the floor with a table and a microphone attached on top, and facing a gigantic screen that showed _himself _falling off the roof in third person.

_What. The. HECK?!_

* * *

Naruto tried desperately to want to get out and help Tsuna. He wanted to. He needed to. He GODDAMN HAS TO!

And when he opened his eyes again, he found himself falling down the roof! He couldn't believe it worked! He only tried what he usually does when he wanted to get out of his mindscape, and it actually worked in this body too!

Deciding to think about that later, Naruto quickly measured the distance between him and the mat and pushed chakra into the soles of his feet. As soon as he reached for the chakra inside Tsuna's body, he could feel a strong burst of energy locked inside, forcing and wanting to come out.

"Nice, he has a lot of chakra. That makes everything easier then!" Pushing chakra into his feet, Naruto fell onto the mat on his feet and bounced off, did three front flips in the air, and landed on his feet safely on the ground about 5 meters away from the mat.

Everyone who had been watching the scene (including a certain brunet) dropped their jaws in surprise, except a certain prefect of course. Did DAME-Tsuna just did THREE, FRONT FLIPS, in the AIR, and landed on the ground FIVE METERS AWAY FROM THE MAT!?

Naruto stood up, turned, and took a step towards the surprised Yamamoto...only to fell flat on his face.

Everyone sweatdropped. They must have been seeing things. There's no way DAME-Tsuna had just did a series of excellent acrobatic moves perfectly right? Of course not, he had just fallen on his face after all. It must have been a trick of the light. Yeah, it must have been!

**Damn. **Naruto cursed mentally. **This body is too short for me. I'm damn not use to it!**

_Well...sorry for being short...WAIT! I CAN HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS!_

**Good so nicely job for stating the obvious dattebayo.**

At that moment, Yamamoto decided to interrupt.

"Hey, Tsuna, are you alright?" He knelt in front of Naruto, who quickly straightened up and smiled.

"Of course I'm alright-ttebayo!"

"Huh?" Yamamoto blinked.

"Hah?" Naruto asked.

"What 'ttebayo'?" Yamamoto asked confusedly.

"What 'ttebayo' are you talking about-ttebayo?" Naruto asked.

"The 'ttebayo' you just said!" Yamamoto replied.

Naruto thought back to what he had just said, and widened his eyes. "Oh! Right! That 'ttebayo'!"

"Yeah, I never heard you say that before. Where'd you learn it?"

"Ah well..." Naruto scratched the back of his head and thought, **well, I'll leave it to you! See yah!**

_W-what? W-wai- _"-wait!" Tsuna yelled as he returned to his body again, and was now facing a very confused Yamamoto.

"Tsuna are you alright? You seemed a bit weird."

Before Tsuna could answer that, a growl was heard from behind them. They both turned their head nervously, only to find Namimori's demon prefect looming down at them with two tonfas in hands. They gulped.

"For disturbing the peace of Namimori, I'll bite you both to death."

And so, the game called 'Tag' began.

* * *

**AN: I was thinking of adding the visit to Yamamoto's dad in, but I think it'll be too long, so I'll leave it here. Besides, I'm very tired. See my update time and you'll understand why. (I deserve some reviews, don't I? *puppy dog eyes*)**

**For those of you who were DREADING Reborn's appearance, if you're lucky and if everything went according to plan, he'll probably show up in the next chapter, after the training with Naruto. If not, oh well, he'll DEFINITELY show up in Chapter 4.**

**I'm sorry for Naruto's super OOCness... Also, in this fic, Sasuke is on Konoha's side. After finding out the truth, he decided to hunt down Madara. Oh and just to clear everything up, Tsuna and Natsu are twins. Tsuna had brown spiky hair and Natsu had blond spiky hair. Tsuna's hair is more fluffy while Natsu's hair is more shaggy.**

**Also, this is a strong!Tsuna fic. Some of you might doubt it since Tsuna appears weak and clumsy, but I just want you to know that I want him to be strong yet stayed in character. I don't like fics in which characters' personality had a 180° change just because they became more powerful. I want Tsuna to _appear _weak, but is actually super strong. Wolf in sheep skin! **:D **Or maybe I should say 扮猪吃老虎 in Chinese^^**

**Wow! Over 14K words in two days? That's a new record!**

**Wait. Why does it sound so familiar? Oh right, Turbo's "Seventeen minutes! That's a new record!" = = Anyway love Turbo here? Turbo's awesome~**

**Anyway, once again, please review, everyone. I understand you might not find this story interesting since the first chapter is basically all memories, nothing fun going on huh? So in this chapter, I added a few twists, and Yamamoto makes a presence! I hope I can get more reviews for this chapter. Last chapter I got six, how many would this chapter gain me, hmm?**

**Next Chapter: Yamamoto's Dad, Training and Chakra, and REBORN!**


	3. Announcement

I'm probably not gonna update for about 1-2 months. Cuz right now my school grades were horrible...not really...but still, my parents were mad and Im a 10th grader, this year, this November, I'm gonna apply for college. But my GPA haven't even reached 3.8. I haven't taken SAT or ACT yet. I have no AP class, I dropped my only honor class...I have 0 volunteer hours and no club involvement while everyone else were doing like 6 AP and many internships...etc. I'M SCREWED!

Therefore I really need time to raise my grades. Sorry guys~

Also...just for fun, I'll share my grades with you guys.

This is my report card:

A+

A

A-

B+

A-

F

Isn't that interesting? AND the F I got is an ELECTIVE! All the main class I got B and above, but I got a F for an ELECTIVE! Holy mother ******, I shouldn't have chosen Computer Programming, it is so ******* hard! I really should've chosen Art. It's so much easier since I'm best at drawing manga... And now a stupid ELECTIVE pulled my grade down. I CANT BELIEVE IT! STUPID ELECTIVE! A 'F'!? REALLY!?


	4. Chapter 3 Theft, Training, and The End

**AN: **I decided to post this chapter because it's already halfway done when I posted the Announcement, so what's the point of leaving my lovely readers waiting? And I'm sure many of you were waiting for Reborn's appearance, so i made him show up here! As for the next chapter, it's seriously going to be about 1-2 months later. I'm not going to write, but you can still PM me and I would still reply your reviews and PM's.

* * *

**Updated: April 24, 2014. 1:13 AM****  
**

**Chapter 3 Theft, Training, and The End**

"Ding ring!"

As the after school bell rang, students began to hustle out of the classroom. Each has their own business to attend. Yamamoto went up to Tsuna, who was nursing the bruise on his cheek that he got from Hibari that morning, and asked, "ne Tsuna! Do you want to come to my house today?"

Tsuna looked surprised, "m-me? Why me?" Yamamoto chuckled.

"Well, you saved me from the suicide, so I thought maybe I should treat you to some sushi."

"Oh right!" Tsuna suddenly remembered what Natsu had said on the roof that morning. "You're d-dad is the owner of 'T-takesushi' r-right?"

"Yup! So you're allowed to eat sushi as much as you want for free since you're my friend!" Seeing Tsuna stiffened, Yamamoto added quickly, "I-I mean, you _are _my friend, aren't you?"

"Of course!" Tsuna quickly replied seeing Yamamoto had mistaken. "I-I mean, I wish we were friend, are we?"

"Haha! If you hope we are friends then we are!" Yamamoto chuckled, then turned and asked Natsu who was talking to a crowd of fangirls. "Ne Natsu! Do you want to eat at Takesushi with us?"

Natsu glanced at him apologetically and smiled, "sorry I can't. I have basketball practice today. The tournament is in a month, I need to get my team ready. Why do you invite me...and Tsuna?" He added after seeing his dame brother fidgeting by Yamamoto's side.

"Ah! You guys both saved me from dying today, so I decided to treat you guys to some sushi, for free!" Yamamoto said in a carefree tone as if 'dying' wasn't a big deal, even Tsuna couldn't tell whether he was joking or not. Damn you Yamamoto, you can even win the Academy Award for Best Actor with your outstanding acting skills! (**AN:** I'm talking about the Oscar award here)

"Really? Thanks! You're so kind Yamamoto! But sorry I'll have to reject your offer this time...ah-wahhh!" Natsu yelped as he was carried away by the crowd of fangirls, to who-knows-where. Tsuna sweat-dropped. He never understood his brother. Why would he act to be popular when he knew he would get molested...ahem...harassed by fangirls/boys? Is he a masochist or something? Or is it that he just loved acting that much?

"That's fine! I'll just invite you next time!" Yamamoto called after him as Tsuna let out a sigh of relief.

He's glad that Natsu rejected Yamamoto's offer. If Natsu comes, then Tsuna wouldn't be able to eat peacefully with Yamamoto for he's constantly on his guard around Natsu.

**Damn. I want to eat ramen dattebayo!**

A voice snapped him out of his thought. _Oh, it's you, Naruto. Why'd you like ramen that much anyway?_

**Ramen is the best food in the world! Pork ramen is the best...although miso ramen is pretty good..but I like cup of noodles chicken flavored more, the taste is better but still the ramen in Ichiraku are fresher than cup of noodles...hmm...**

Tsuna ignored his babble.

* * *

As they were walking towards Yamamoto's house, Yamamoto decided to start a conversation since the unbearable silence was getting awkward.

"Hey Tsuna," Yamamoto called, capturing Tsuna's attention. Tsuna quickly snapped out of his random 'ramen' conversation with Naruto and looked at Yamamoto.

"Yeah?"

"You said you knew someone who's been acting his entire life? Who is it?" Yamamoto asked curiously. This question has been bothering him for a long time.

Tsuna frowned and nervously diverted his eyes to a car parked on the street side. "W-well...he's s-someone I'm very c-closely related to, a-and...um..."

"Closely related? Is he your relative?" Yamamoto asked.

"Uhh...not exactly a r-relative..."

"...oh? But he is related to you right?"

"W-well, Y-yeah, b-but.." Tsuna stuttered, trying to make out what he wanted to say. Should he tell Yamamoto? Or should he not? But if he told Yamamoto and later he asked Natsu about it, then Tsuna would be in big trouble. Should he not tell? "H-he isn't e-exactly..w-well..." Tsuna took a breath to calm himself. Right now he's just stuttering nonsense. "P-please d-don't ask, Yamamoto-kun..."

"Why not? Is he a secret relative or something?" Yamamoto still wouldn't give up.

"H-he..." Tsuna gritted his teeth as a drop of sweat glided down his cheek.

No, he can't tell Yamamoto. If he does, then Natsu will...

A sudden memory flashed in his mind.

_Flashback:_

_-9 years old-_

_Tsuna was walking back home along with Natsu. It was at red traffic light and they were standing at the sideline waiting for the signal lignt to turn green. Suddenly, Tsuna felt someone pushed his back just when a car past by. It was like a movie played in slow motion. Tsuna could see the ground getting closer to his face. The car getting closer and closer... Tsuna closed his eyes, getting ready for the pain that's about to come, but..._

**_DODGE! YOU IDIOT!_**

_What? Tsuna opened his eyes quickly and found himself in a complete white space, facing a clone of himself...except the clone has orange eyes and has a weird fire burning on his forehead. The clone looked raged and concerned. Tsuna was just about to ask when the clone interrupted him._

_"**WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING! YOU'RE GOING TO WASTE YOUR LIFE JUST LIKE THAT!? I TOLD YOU TO DODGE SO DODGE! IF YOU EVER TRY TO DIE WITHOUT SAVING YOURSELF THEN I'LL PERSONALLY KILL YOU! DO. YOU. UNDERSTAND!?**"_

_"Y-yes sir!" Scared at the loud voice and the angered look on the clone's face, Tsuna quickly nodded his head and stuttered out. When he raised his head again, he's back in reality and the car is 1 meter away from him. Remembering what the clone said, Tsuna quickly twisted out of the way to dodge the car.__ As he turned to dodge, he managed to catch a gleeful look on Natsu's face. At that moment, Tsuna knew it was Natsu who pushed him. Natsu was trying to **murder** him!_

_A sudden pain crashed into his leg. It went up to his spine and into his head, giving him a ringing sound in his ear and making his entire body numb. The pain was unbearable; it felt as if someone was tearing his leg apart. A high-pitched screeching sound rang in his ears. Tsuna opened his eyes, and saw the car stopped about 10 meters away from him. A black line of car tire streak was marked on the ground. He then looked down at his right leg, and saw it was twisted at an odd angle. Feeling disgusted, Tsuna looked away and immediately felt the world began to spin and his eyes slowly closing. But before he closed his eyes, he managed to catch a flash of regret in Natsu's eyes._

_Wait...regret?_

_When he woke up, he forgot how he was saved. He only remembered Natsu pushing him...and bumping into the car. How he got out alive...he doesn't know._

_Flashback end._

Yes. That's right. If he told Yamamoto, and Yamamoto asked Natsu, then Natsu would be mad at him and try to kill him again. And he would be hurt again. The feeling of his leg tearing apart...the fear of dying and leaving his family...the fear of the menacing-looking car... The fear of...

_Flashback:_

_"M-mama! I'm saying t-the truth! P-please believe me! Natsu p-pushed me into t-the car!" Tsuna sat on the hospital bed with his leg in a cast as he cried earnestly at mama. However, his stuttering doesn't seem to help the situation._

_"Tsuna! Don't blame your brother for something he didn't do! Mama doesn't want you to lie!" Nana scolded; she's so mad that she even called Tsuna by his given name. It's her first time being this mad at her son, at Tsuna. She couldn't believe Tsuna would lie for something as serious as this! Na-chan, her perfect little boy, tried to **murder **Tsu-chan by **pushing him into a car**!? No way! There's no way Natsu the overprotective big brother would do something like that! How could Tsu-chan blame him like that while Natsu protected him for his entire life!? It must be because Tsuna is jealous of the attention Natsu is getting! Yeah! That must be it!_

_"B-but mama! Why won't you believe me! _I'm saying the truth! Natsu pushed me!_" Feeling panicked, Tsuna shouted as tears streamed down his chubby cheek._

_How could he continue to lie like that! Nana thought as anger began to burn inside her chest. Stop lying! Just stop blaming Natsu! It's not Natsu's fault! Just stop!_

_"It was Natsu! He was always bullying me! He's being acting like a 'good' boy so no one knows his true side! Mom! Please believe me and help me! It's really him! He tried to kill me! He's jealous of me-"_

_Slap!_

_A red mark became visible on his right cheek. Tsuna cupped his cheek, feeling dazed at the sudden pain. He then turned his head stiffly to look at mama with big, teary, caramel eyes._

_Nana stood with her hand still in slapping motion. Her eyes were clouded and her body was quivering with disbelief. She just slapped Tsu-chan. Oh god She just **slapped** her dear Tsu-chan!_

_"Tsu...Tsu-chan...m-mama is s-so sorry...m-mama doesn't m-mean to..." She then looked down at her reddening hand; it was shaking terribly. She can't believe she lost control like that! She didn't mean to hit Tsu-chan! What should she do!?_

_Feeling dreadful and mad at the same time, she turned and bolted out of the door with tears leaking out of the corner of her eyes and slammed the door behind her. She then leaned against the door and slid down onto the ground. Her hand is still quivering. What should she do? She just hit Tsu-chan. Tsu-chan must hate her now. Their relationship will never be the same again. What should she do?_

**_Just act oblivious. Tsu-chan is still a kid. When he grew up, he'll forget about it. He has other things to worry about than this tiny little thing._**

_A tiny voice said at the back of her mind. Nana mentally nodded and agreed. Yeah, if she just acted oblivious and normal, Tsu-chan would forget about it in no time!_

_But she is still mad at Tsuna. That's why she didn't visit Tsuna for a week just so she can calm her anger down. When she met Tsuna again later, she put on a happy mask and tried to act all normal around Tsuna. Although she forced herself to forgive Tsuna, deep down inside, she is still mad at him. How could he say that everything Natsu did was an act? How can Natsu be_ acting_ like a 'good' boy? No way!_

_-Inside the room-_

_Tsuna still felt dazed. Why does mama hit him? Does she really hate him enough to hit him?! Why won't she believe him? Why does she always believes Natsu? Is it because Natsu is a 'good' kid and Tsuna is a 'bad' kid?_

_Mama slapped him._

_Which means mama hated him._

_Mama HATED him..._

_MAMA hated him..._

_Mama hated HIM..._

_MAMA HATED HIM!_

_Mama didn't visit him for a week. It was a nurse who noticed his reddening cheek and offered him a pain relief ointment._

_A week later, Nana finally visited Tsuna. She didn't talk about that incident; instead, she only giggled cheerfully while talking about a random festival that's coming up. She, however, didn't notice Tsuna wasn't listening at all._

_Tsuna felt very disappointed. He knew mama was mad at him but the least she could do is to say 'I'm sorry' for slapping him. Why does she act like nothing happened? Does she think that it's not a big deal that she **slapped **her 9 years old son?!_

_Flashback end._

If he told Yamamoto the truth, would he act like mama and get mad at Tsuna? Would he stop being Tsuna's friend? Would he...hit Tsuna? And if he asked Natsu...

_Flashback:_

_It was after school. Natsu and Tsuna were in a dark alley where no one would pass by._

_"N-natsu, w-what are you doing?" Tsuna stammered, leaning further back into the wall._

_Natsu responded with silence as he walked closer to Tsuna and suddenly grabbed Tsuna's collar, bringing Tsuna's face closer to his._

_"You told mama I'm acting," he growled out, bangs covering his eyes so Tsuna couldn't tell his expression._

_"I d-didn't mean t-to!"_

_"You told her. You told her! How could you!" Natsu lifted his head so Tsuna could see his face clearly. Tsuna was surprised to see tears in Natsu's eyes._

_Why? Why is he crying? Is he mad or upset? I can't tell!_

_"Why do you tell her!? It's not fair! How could you! I didn't even tell her about you and you told her! THIS IS NOT FAIR!" He snarled as he dug his fist into Tsuna's stomach, causing him to choke on his saliva._

_"W-what d-do you m-mean? W-wha-tz not f-fair?" Kneeling on the ground, Tsuna stumbled on his words as he accidentally bit his tongue, drawing blood._

_"SHUT UP! JUST STOP LYING!" Natsu punched Tsuna in the face, causing him to crash onto the ground, a small stone laying on the ground hit his temple, making him see spots._

_For the next few minutes, Tsuna wasn't aware of what's happening. He only knew that Natsu was yelling and crying a lot, while a lot of punches and kicks were landed on him. He's already numb of all the pain he's getting. He doesn't understand. He felt scared, but a tiny bit inside of him felt...guilty? Why does he felt guilty hearing Natsu cry? It's not his fault! Natsu is the one hurting him so why is he guilty?_

_A loud cracking sound and a sudden pain in his hand brought him back to reality. His vision cleared and saw Natsu's feet on his broken hand. He couldn't help but screamed._

_"This is what you get for telling mama! It's your fault!" He then stepped on Tsuna's back and took Tsuna's arm, pulling it back sharply._

_"N-no! Stop! It hurts!" Tsuna cried, but it was vain. With a sharp jerk of Natsu's arm, Tsuna's shoulder slipped off its socket. A severe pain went through his whole body, causing him to tremble with agony._

_"You get it?! This is what you get for telling mama! Do you understand!?" Natsu yelled madly as he took in the scene of Tsuna screaming in pain on the ground. It was then he realized what he had just done. Seeing the skin on Tsuna's shoulder bulging out, and Tsuna's hand laying limply on the ground, Natsu yelped and jumped back a feet. "I-I...I hurt you..? I did t-this...to you?" He closed his eyes and grabbed his hair, shaking his head wildly. "N-no! No! NO WAY! I HURT YOU TSUNA! HOW COULD I!? DAMN IT!" He then ran away holding his head and sprouting tears out of his eyes, leaving Tsuna laying confusingly on the ground._

_"N-natsu...w-why? I-I'm sorry...I won't t-tell anyone ever a-again..." Tsuna sobbed as he slowly closed his eyes._

_Flashback ends._

If he asked Natsu...then Natsu would hurt Tsuna again. His arm would be broken, his fingers smashed...

_..na!_

He doesn't want that! He doesn't want anymore unbearable pain! It's scary!

_...una!_

He can't tell Yamamoto. Because if Yamamoto asked Natsu about it, then he would be in big trouble! He doesn't want that!

"TSUNA!"

"Hieee!" Tsuna yelped and looked up at the voice. It was Yamamoto, looking concerned at him. "Y-yamamoto? What's wrong?"

"You bumped into a pole Tsuna," he deadpanned.

Tsuna turned his head, and indeed he was facing an innocent looking pole. He suddenly felt a bump began to form on his forehead.

"Tsuna? Are you alright? You were spacing out for the past five minutes," Yamamoto showed Tsuna his watch as he asked.

Tsuna shook his head with a strained smile, "I'm fine Yamamoto. Um...for that p-person we were t-talking about...c-can we forget about it? P-please? It brings up...some bad memories..."

Yamamoto nodded with a knowing smile, "don't worry! I won't talk about it anymore!"

Tsuna smiled, "thanks."

**Tsuna.**

_What?_

**Something's definitely wrong with Natsu.**

_You saw the memories I just saw?_

**Yeah. It's odd. What he said when he beat you up, it doesn't make sense. I can feel he's hiding something...**

_Good so nicely job for stating the obvious. _(haha, payback!)

**Damn you!**

* * *

They were in front of Takesushi aka Yamamoto's house, but they didn't enter; instead, they stood in front of the entrance, staring awkwardly at the innocent little signpost on the ground.

**==CLOSED==**

"C-L-O-S-E-D? Why is your house closed?" Tsuna asked as he spelled out the sign.

Yamamoto merely chuckled as he scratched his cheek, "Well, I guess it's _that _day again."

"What day?" Tsuna asked as Yamamoto started walking towards another street.

"Haha, you'll see when we get there," said Yamamoto as he motioned Tsuna to follow him. They walked to a dilapidated street and stopped in front of a decayed building. The paint on the shop sign was smudged so the name was hard to see. The door looked ready to fall off any second. On the porch beside the doorstep, there were two greatly-maintained sun daisies planted.

Yamamoto went up to the door and knocked twice, and said, "Dad? You there?" Without waiting for an answer, he pulled open the door and entered with Tsuna following closely behind. Inside the shop was incredibly messy. Weapons were scattered on the shelf. Some weapons doesn't even have a sale price, or its sale price tag may be too wrinkled to read.

Suddenly, a figure dashed out of a door in the corner. He was wearing a huge black coat which the collar hids his face, and was holding something long and thin wrapped hurriedly in a cloth. The person darted quickly towards the entrance door, bumping Tsuna and Yamamoto aside as he pushed open the door and ran away.

Tsuna and Yamamoto were too surprised to do anything except to let the person run away.

"Get him! He's a thief!" A voice sounded from the door the person came out of, and the next second, an old man in his mid-forties rushed out of the door, a stricken look plastered on his face.

"Dad? What's going on?" Yamamoto asked, coming out of his shock.

"That man...stole the Shigure Kintoki, a weapon passed down in our family from generation to-" before Yamamoto's dad could finish that sentence, Yamamoto already rushed out of shop. Tsuna came out of his trance quickly and ran right after him.

But the thief was too fast of a runner, even Yamamoto couldn't catch him. And obviously, neither could Tsuna, who was about ten feet away from Yamamoto.

"Damn it! He's too fast!" Yamamoto said as he ran as fast as he can after the thief.

Tsuna, who was now thirty feet behind Yamamoto, was ready to give up and leave the chasing to Yamamoto, when Naruto suddenly called out,

**You are giving up already? Aren't you going to help you friends catch the thief?**

_I want to! But I'm too slow! I can't catch up to them!_

**Look at Yamamoto.**

Tsuna glanced at Yamamoto who was still running after the thief.

**Even though the thief is too fast for him, he's still trying. What would he say when he came back and found you sitting here relaxing while he had been doing the hard job? Don't you think he would wish for you, his friend, to help him catch the thief together?**

_...Fine, I get it. I'll go after him!_

Tsuna started running again, but by now Yamamoto and the thief were already fifty feet away from him. With his slow pace, weak stamina, and dame-ness, there's no way he can catch up to them!

Tsuna was ready to give up but Naruto's word rang in his mind. He is Yamamoto's friend. And friends were supposed to help each other! Even if he's too slow, he's NOT going to give up!

**That's what I'm waiting for.**

Tsuna was just about to ask what Naruto mean by that, but in a blink of an eye, he's sitting on the ground, facing a table with a microphone on it, and a screen of himself running after the two people.

_Again!?_

* * *

Naruto had been waiting to see if Tsuna would give up. He's glad that Tsuna finally was courageous enough to continue running even though he knew he could never catch up. In Tsuna's body, Naruto jumped up a little to get used to the awkward feeling of having shorter legs and smaller sized feet. Then he reached into Tsuna's humongous amount of chakra coiled up inside the body and applied them to his feet and legs.

Naruto then pushed forward and with his chakra enhanced legs and feets, he's running speed became over 10 times faster. Although he's still not used to the body and shorter leg, adding chakra to his feet gave him an increase in momentum every time he stepped onto the ground, which means he now only need to step onto the ground twice to run past a normal twenty-steps length. Because of that, he doesn't trip anymore since his feet rarely touches the ground. He reached past the surprised and tired Yamamoto in no time. Adding power to his legs, Naruto jumped up into the air and kicked the thief's head hard, successfully knocking him out.

"Wow Tsuna! I never knew you can run so fast!" Yamamoto exclaimed as he caught up to Naruto.

"Hehe~ that's my secret! Don't tell anyone!" Naruto winked and wiggled his index finger playfully.

"No problem!"

Naruto then took the wrapped item from under the thief's unconscious body and opened it. It was a regular shinai (bamboo stick), nothing seems special about it.

"Thank god you caught him!" Cried Yamamoto's dad as he finally caught up to them. He took the shinai from Naruto carefully as if handling a baby and examined it from top to bottom for any flaws or broken parts. He led out a sigh of relief after he found none.

By now, Naruto had given the body back to Tsuna, leaving Tsuna sitting on the ground tiredly after what Naruto had done with his body. (**AN:** Not in that way you nutters!)

After putting the shinai back into the cloth, Yamamoto's dad asked, "Tsunayoshi Sawada right?" Tsuna nodded dumbly. Yamamoto's dad smiled. "Thank you for catching the thief for us. If he had gotten away, I don't know what I would do," he chuckled weakly.

"D-don't thank me! I d-didn't do anything!" Tsuna stuttered weakly, waving his hands in front of him and shaking his head.

"Of course you did!" Yamamoto's dad laughed.

As they started heading back to the shop (with Yamamoto carrying the unconscious man on his shoulder), Yamamoto suddenly asked a question.

"Hey dad. What's so important about that shinai?" Yamamoto's dad grew rigid, which made Yamamoto even more curious. "It looked just like a regular shinai to me!"

"It's...a weapon passed down in our family from generation to generation. Yamamoto, I will tell you in full detail when the time comes. You are not ready yet."

"What do you mean dad? I'm not ready for what?" Yamamoto asked, but a glare from his dad shut him up.

As they reached the shop, they saw a white-haired man standing on the porch, looking rather pale and worried. The man looked to be in his mid forties but all his hair were white. Judging from the whiteness of his hair and his pinkish eye, the man seemed to be an Albino. As soon as trio came in view, the man jumped down the porch and rushed towards them, eyeing the wrapped shinai worriedly but seemed too afraid to touch.

"I-is this alright? N-nothing's wrong with it, I h-hope?" He stuttered, eyes darting between the shinai and Yamamoto's dad nervously.

"Luckily, nothing's wrong with it. No need to worry," Yamamoto's dad said, then he glared at the man, making him gulp. "Boron! Didn't I tell you to take good care of this shinai? It's the most valuable weapon and you should NEVER display it in the shop!"

"B-but I-"

At that moment, the unconscious man woke up. He yelped as he found himself being carried on someone's shoulder. Yamamoto quickly set him down. His dad stood in front of the man and glared hatefully at him, and interrogated, "why do you steal this shinai? How do you know it's valuable?"

"I-I-" The thief stuttered, darting his eyes between Yamamoto's dad's face and Boron's face nervously. He then pointed his finger at Boron and said, "h-he told me to steal it!"

"WHAT?!" Boron yelped as everyone turned their attention onto him. Yamamoto's dad glared at him.

"Is it really you, Boron? Why would you do it?! I trusted you!"

"B-but I didn't!" He quickly explained and shook his head furiously like a rattle drum. "Please trust me Tsuyoshi-san! I would NEVER betray you!"

"Then how would you explain this?!" Tsuyoshi pointed at the thief.

"I-I-I don't know! He's lying!"

"Are you?" Tsuyoshi turned his glare towards the thief, making him cower.

"Of course not! I'm sure, it's definitely him who paid me to steal the shinai!"

"_Paid_ you?"

"Yeah!" The thief nodded to confirm Tsuyoshi's question. "I'm a retired professional runner. I met him at a convenience shop about a week ago and he told me if I steal this shinai, he would pay me one million yens! I'm sure it's him! I remembered his white hair and pink eyes very clearly!"

"You're lying! A week ago I was sick! I slept early and never left the house!" Boron argued.

"Then how would you explain the person I met? A _clone _of yourself!?" The thief argued back.

Tsuyoshi watched as the two argued back and forth, not sure who to believe.

"Uhh..um..."

A timid voice cried out. Everyone turned towards the source of the voice and saw Tsuna raising a hand nervously.

"I-I think, Boron isn't lying..." he said quietly.

"Then are you saying _I'm _lying!?" The thief protested. His face reddened with panic.

"N-no! I don't mean that!" Tsuna cried and waved his hands in front of him. "I don't think you are lying either!"

Both people stood stiff with open mouth. What is this kid saying!?

At this moment, Tsuyoshi broke the awkward silence. "Why don't we carry this conversation inside? Although this place is pretty deserted, I don't like to talk about such important matter in the open."

-Inside the shop-

Tsuyoshi, Boron, and the thief went inside the room to talk, while Yamamoto and Tsuna stayed in the shop.

"Neh Yamamoto-kun, what exactly is this place? I thought your dad owns a sushi bar," Tsuna decided to strike a conversation.

"Well...before my dad open the sushi shop...he's actually a weapon maker, or 'Blacksmith'."

"You mean those Blacksmiths in RPG games?!"

"Yeah. He opens this shop to sell his hand-made weapons. At his time, weapons were still pretty commonly used, so he maintained a pretty stable income. Then he met my mom at this shop."

"So this is where your parents first met?" Tsuna asked surprised.

"Yeah," Yamamoto laughed. "He said my mom got interested in the sun daisies he planted at the entrance, and that's why she came into the shop. She doesn't like weapons, but she like the flowers, so she came to the store everyday to stare at the flowers. They started starting a relationship after about a month.

My mom loves sushi so they went out to eat sushi almost everyday. My mom's dream is to open a sushi restaurant and she even taught dad how to make sushi so they can open the shop together."

**Awwww... How romantic~**

_Yeah... It really is huh?_

"But then one day my mom passed away due to an accident. My dad was really sad and so he decided to open a sushi bar to help my mom achieve her dream. But he also kept this shop to treasure the memory of their first encounter, although he gains no money by this shop because nowadays no one use swords or knifes anymore."

"What about Boron-san? Why would he want to work at a shop that is deserted and has no customers?" Tsuna asked, cocking his head curiously. Yamamoto tapped his chin, thinking.

"Well, Dad said that he found Boron unconscious on the street. After he took Boron to the hospital, he found out that Boron lost his memories. Dad took pity on him and offered him food and shelter as long as he help dad watch the shop. My dad mostly visited the shop about one or two days a month to see how he's doing."

"Oh so that's why your house was closed today. Your dad was visiting Boron-san today," Tsuna stated.

"Yeah...hey Tsuna, do you really think Boron and the thief were both telling the truth?" Yamamoto questioned his thought out loud.

"Yeah...I don't think they were lying. Their eyes looked truthful, and they seemed to panic when we didn't believe them. I think there must've been a mistake somewhere," said Tsuna. He then he glanced at his watch and yelped. "HIEEE! It's this late already?! I have to go home now or else my mom would be worried!" He then dashed towards the entrance door and stopped before exiting. Turning his head back, Tsuna said, "I'll see you tomorrow Yamamoto-kun!"

"Bye Tsuna!" Yamamoto waved his hand in the air cheerfully, watching Tsuna running away.

* * *

While walking home, Tsuna asked mentally.

_How did you run that fast using my body? I have short legs and weak stamina, so how did you run that fast?_

**I used something called CHAKRA.**

_Chakra?_

**Yeah, it's a form of energy that exists in everyone's body. But nobody knows them so no one uses them.**

_Did you learn that in Ninja Academy?_

**Yeah. Every ninja must learn how to use their chakra. By the way, starting tomorrow I'm going to teach you how to defend yourself dattebayo!**

_How? How do you teach me when you are inside of me?_

**Hehe~ you'll see tomorrow!**

_Fine..._

* * *

Slowly, carefully, and quietly, Tsuna pushed open the door to his home. He slipped inside swiftly and closed the door with a quiet 'click'. He turned and nearly screamed in surprise if not for the hand covering his mouth. He looked up at the owner of the hand and found the face of Natsu's inches from his.

Taking off his hand, Natsu smirked as he took in Tsuna's alarmed look. "So..." He began, drawling the word out. "You ate at Yamamoto's house today huh?"

"A-actually...I d-didn't, T-takesushi was c-closed t-today..." Tsuna spluttered, nearing biting his tongue. Glancing up nervously, he found Natsu glaring at him, as usual. He fidgeted involuntarily.

"Hm. Then why did you come home this late? Even my basketball practice was over."

"Umm..." Tsuna glanced away, suddenly finding the ant crawling over his shoes very interesting. "S-something c-came up and I h-had to g-go t-take care of it..."

_Please don't ask what please don't ask..._ Tsuna prayed silently.

Lady Luck seemed to be on his side for Natsu merely "hm~"'d before switching the subject.

"So you're friends with Yamamoto now aren't you?" Natsu asked.

"Y-yeah..." Tsuna said, closing his eyes and preparing himself from whatever insults or punches Natsu is going to throw.

"Oh."

Tsuna glanced up surprised.

"Aren't you g-going to be m-mad at me?"

"Of course not. I can't wait to see how he will react when he find out your true side," sneered Natsu. He then turned and left.

**That was weird. He's a mystery, your brother.**

"Yeah," Tsuna answered out loud, still stunned from what Natsu had said.

* * *

Next day is a Saturday. Tsuna followed Naruto's instructions and left home early to the small forest at the South of Namimori. On the way there he found a red-haired boy who was wearing glasses making weird faces at a mirror on the side of the street, which he chose to ignore.

Arriving at the small forest, he choose a clean spot to put down his backpack, which was loaded with water bottles, snacks, and notepads. He don't know how and what Naruto is going teach him, so he prepared for everything.

_Naruto, so how are you going to teach me? _

**Like this...**

Tsuna blinked, and he's in the Movie Room again (he decided to call it the 'movie room' since watching the scenes on the screen is like watching a movie).

_Hiee! Please warn me before doing that! You surprised me!_

"Haha!" Naruto laughed out loud. He then positioned his hands into a cross handsign, and said, "kage bunshin no jutsu", again pulling chakra out from Tsuna's enormous chakra ball inside of him.

A dead-looking figure appeared collapsing on the ground next to him. Tsuna couldn't make out what exactly is that _thing _since it's facing down and it's skin is drained of color.

_What are you doing? And what's that?_

"Hm...I thought I can do it on first try...let's see..." Ignoring Tsuna, Naruot closed his eyes to concentrate harder, and yelled, "kage bunshin no jutsu!" A pale-looking clone appeared, but this one was missing an eyebrow.

Naruto tried again, "KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" This time, a normal-looking clone of Tsuna appeared next to him. Naruto went to the clone, tapped its shoulder, and said, "good, seems like it worked!"

_Hieee! Who's him! Why does he look like me!?_

"Hey," Yet again, Naruto ignored Tsuna. He leaned close to the clone and said, "don't let Tsuna take over, ok?"

"Of course, boss." The clone replied.

* * *

-The Clone's view-

_Hieee! What happened?!_

**We are the clones of the original Tsuna/Naruto~**

_Clones? What do you mean?_

**Just wait okay? I'll explain afterward...**

_Fine...this is creepy..._

* * *

-Back in normal view-

Naruto then let Tsuna have his body back. As soon as Tsuna has his body back, he went to the clone and examined it from head to toe. He then poked its shoulder, and yelped when the clone moved away from him.

"Hieee! Ano...who are you?" Tsuna asked.

"I am your clone, or maybe I should say...you clone but Naruto's mind," the clone Naruto replied.

"Hah? What are you talking about?"

Sighing, clone Naruto began explaining, "the original Naruto, _your _Naruto, just did a jutsu that creates a solid replica of the user. In this case, I am you, and you are me. I'm exactly the same as you. If I'm talking in clone-Tsuna's perspective, then I would say _we both have Naruto inside of us_. To make you understand better, I'll show you..."

Tsuna watched as clone Naruto closed his eyes, then opened it rather quickly. Looking around nervously, clone Naruto finally glanced at Tsuna, and yelped, "Hiee! You look like me!"

"Y-you are the clone of me?!" Tsuna asked as he saw the familiar reaction from the clone.

"I-I guess so..that's what Naruto said..." clone-Tsuna replied. Tsuna assumed that the 'Naruto' the clone is talking about is clone-Naruto.

"W-wow, so..ugh..you know everything I know?" Tsuna asked.

"Yeah. You still peed your pants when you were ele-"

"WAHH!" Tsuna hurriedly covered the clone's mouth. He could almost hear Naruto laughing in his mind. "D-don't say it! I believe you okay?"

"Oh, s-sorry..." clone-Tsuna apologized guiltily. His head was down, his fingers were twiddled together; those were all what Tsuna would do when he felt bad or nervous.

"I-it's fine..." Tsuna muttered. It was silent for a while for both don't feel comfortable talking to their look-alike, until clone-Naruto decided to take control.

"Well, now you know what the clone is like, I guess we can finally start training now-ttebayo!" clone-Naruto said. Tsuna nodded. "Basically, you can treat me like Naruto, since I'm practically him, don't be too nervous." Tsuna nodded, this time relaxing his stance a bit. "Great! First, I'm going to teach you the basic of everything: chakra?"

"Chakra? Wasn't that what you used to help you run faster when you took control of me?"

"Yep! You can apply chakra to any spot on your body to make it stronger. For example, if you add chakra to your fist, you punch becomes stronger. If you add it to your stomach, your stomach becomes stronger, which means if someone punches you, it will hurt less."

"Oh! So when you apply chakra to your feet, you add power to it which means you can run faster, is that so?" Tsuna realized as clone-Naruto smiled.

"Yeah, but to use it, you will have to find it first. Here," clone-Naruto took a leaf from the ground and offered to Tsuna. "Sit down, put this on your forehead, and close your eyes."

Tsuna took the offered leaf and complied.

"Wipe everything off your mind, make it blank, relax, breath in through your nose, and out through your mouth," clone-Naruto instructed.

Tsuna did so and felt as if all the stress and pressure had been lifted off of him. He just sat there, relaxing, taking in the warm morning sunshine, screeching of the cicadas, chirping of the birds, and the calming earthly smell the forest releases.

"And now focus all your concentration, energy...onto the leaf on your forehead. Do you feel anything?"

Clone-Naruto's voice sounded so far away. Tsuna mumbled a quiet, inaudible 'no' as he continued to relax. He almost fell asleep if not for clone-Naruto's voice called out again.

"Then take a while longer. Take as long as you need. Forget about everything else, just relax and focus your energy onto the leaf."

Tsuna would continue to relax even if clone-Naruto didn't tell him to. He felt so peaceful right now. He doesn't have to worry about the bullying, Natsu, school grades...etc. He can just...relax.

He doesn't know how long he just sat there, eyes closed, for the first time in his life feeling very peaceful and relaxed. After what felt like ages, Tsuna suddenly felt a warmth coiled in his stomach. He snapped open his eyes and gasped in surprise.

"What's wrong?" Clone-Naruto asked innocently. His facial features, however, betrayed his tone. It was clearly a 'I-know-something-you-don't-know' type of expression.

"I felt something weird in my stomach!" Tsuna exclaimed, pressing his palm on the warm spot, but by now he couldn't feel the warmth anymore.

"That, is your chakra. The warmth you felt is the energy that had been hidden deep inside of you. Today, all we are gonna learn is to find your chakra and try to apply it to different spots of your body." Clone-Naruto explained.

"Would I get to test out the effect of this power?" Tsuna asked excitedly. Imagine being able to run much faster! He would never been called dame-Tsuna ever again!

But, on a second thought, if he suddenly appeared so powerful, Natsu would get jealous of that power and he would get hurt again. Maybe...he should just hide this talent? Which means he can't get rid of the 'dame-Tsuna' name? Aw man...then what's the point of learning this?

**To protect yourself you baka!**

_What?!_

Tsuna thought alarmed. He almost forgot the real Naruto was here!

**The reason I teach you this is so you can defend yourself! Forget about your brother! You should care about your own safety first! Think about the rest afterward. You should focus on concentrating now so you can find the chakra. Remember, to find your chakra, you need to concentrate!**

_Sorry...I understand now...but still...if Natsu find out, then I'm in deep trouble. I'm sure he would want this power, if it's truly what ninjas use, then he would want it for sure._

**Then use this power to kick his butt! But to do so, you need to learn how to use this power first. So now...CONCENTRATE!**

_OKAY OKAY! No need to shout!_

"Yes, you would get to, but you'll have to find it first. Now, can you find that warmth again?" Clone-Naruto asked. Tsuna nodded as he settled down and closed his eyes again.

* * *

By the end of that day, Tsuna already could find the chakra and adding a small amount of it to his fists, stomachs..etc. Although the small amount of chakra added did practically nothing to strengthen him, Tsuna was still happy because he actually did something only ninjas can do! When he returned home that day, Tsuna hid his happy demeanor and acted all dame and 'normal', so mama wouldn't find anything strange with him, and Natsu wouldn't find reasons to bully him again. But when he was alone in his room, he allowed himself to scream in his pillow. He's so happy that not just someone agreed to teach him self-defense, he's also able to learn it all! Unlike in his other classes, no matter how the teachers teach the materials, he still wouldn't get it.

For the next few weeks, Tsuna didn't show his new ability in class (PE), besides, he isn't strong enough to show off. On the weekends, Tsuna would go to that clearing in the forest, and then Naruto would take over to make clone-Naruto appear and teach him. He would train like that for about three hours a day.

It's been a month, and Tsuna already can add enough chakra onto his feet to add a boost of power whenever he runs. He hasn't applied chakra onto his hands yet, because first, if he does so, he would have nowhere to test out the power, and second, he can't possibly use trees as targets can he?!

But still, Tsuna was very pleased with his accomplishments. He, _dame-Tsuna_, actually succeeded in learning how to strengthen himself physically! Although he still trips and falls, he is much better at physical exercises now! Even though he still couldn't hit a ball in PE, he accomplished the harder task: find his inner power and learn how to use it. Tsuna was very very pleased with himself. If he could, he would pat himself on the back. But unfortunately, he's not flexible enough and his hands can't reach that far.

He thought this peaceful days would last forever, with him avoiding mama and Natsu, failing school, acting normal at school (PE), training on the weekends...but it all ended when one day...

It was a peaceful day at the Sawada household. With mama preparing breakfast, Natsu waking Tsuna up using his special weird methods, and Tsuna tripping on every three steps... until the doorbell rang. While mama went getting the door, Natsu was stuffing eggs and toast into his mouth as he fixed his uniforms, and Tsuna was in the restroom, brushing his teeth and nursing the bruise on his cheek, which he had gotten from Natsu's hammer that morning.

"Ciaossu!"

A baby voice called out. Natsu poked his head out of the kitchen curiously and Tsuna exited the bathroom while wiping his wet face with a towel. They both stopped as they took in the scene.

A baby, wearing a black suit and a fedora, standing at the entrance, smiling oh-so-innocently at mama.

Natsu, with half of the toast hanging out of his mouth, went to the baby, swallowed the food, and asked in a gentle voice, "baby? Why are you here? Are you lost?"

"My name is Reborn, the home tutor."

"Home tutor?" The brothers asked concurrently.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you!" Mama smiled, "I hired you a home tutor. It says," she took out a flyer and read, "I will train your kid to become the new leader of the next generation. Grades and subject doesn't matter. Tutor for free if offered food and shelter. Signed, Reborn."

"But mama! This is a _baby!_" Natsu protested. "Tsuna would become even _more _dame if he has a _baby _as a tutor!"

"Actually, I'm here to train you, Sawada Natsuyoshi," Reborn said.

"What?!" Turning towards mama, Natsu cried, "mama! I don't need a home tutor! You know how I got straight A's and is an excellent athlete!"

"Oh really? Is that so?" Reborn suddenly jumped up and did a round house kick aiming at Natsu's head. Natsu snapped his head back at the last second to avoid being hit. "Not bad, but you forgot to protect..here!" Reborn then did a push kick towards Natsu's stomach, making him choking and coughing on the ground. "Well, you're going to be late if you don't hurry up, dame-Natsu," he then dragged Natsu by his tie outside and closed the door.

After about ten seconds, mama smiled and said obliviously, "oh well, that was interesting." She then settled her gaze on Tsuna who was half-dressed and yelped, "oh! I forgot to prepare your bento!" She then hurried into the kitchen.

Tsuna stood staring at the door. It seems like his peaceful days had ended. Who know what type of chaos this weird baby would bring? Oh well, he'll just have to brace himself for it.

* * *

**AN:**

**For the blacksmith part, I don't know anything about Blacksmith except that they make weapons. I only knew them from Warcraft (you know, 'Mail' weapons and such ****;D****) so there might be things that were wrong in this chapter, please try your best to ignore them as you read. But I would be happy if you would point them out so I can fix them.**

**Also, just so you know, when I get past the Kokuyo Arc, I might update slower. Because I finished watching KHR in Elementary school and now I'm in highschool, I forgot most of the plot already. Right now I'm re-watching it and I'm on episode 25, when Tsuna's fighting Mukuro. As for what happened after that, I totally forgot! xD So please be patient and give me time to watch and write when I get past the Kokuyo Arc.**

**For those sharp readers who had caught on Shoichi's appearance, haha~ he would probably show up in the next, or so chapters. I made something special happen to him too. I personally really love Shoichi and I think he doesn't get enough attention in the fics, especially twin fics, so I'm gonna make him show up~ Oh god it's gonna be humorous... (*I'm not spoiling anything!*) (lol this is just like 此地无银三百两 lol)**


	5. Chapter 4 Girls are troublesome

**Disclaimer: **The Disclaimer in CH 1 is the Disclaimer for this ENTIRE fic. Just saying in case some of you wondered where is the Disclaimer in each chapter.

**Mind person's talk in the other's view (you'll see what I mean when you get there)**

* * *

**Updated: June 8, 2014. 3:00 PM**

**Chapter 4 Girls are troublesome**

Ino doesn't know what happened. One moment Madara did a weird jutsu, and the next second she was surrounded by a white light. The last thing she heard before fainting was Sakura's voice shouting 'Naruto!' _So Naruto got hit too?_

When she woke up, she was in a library, or what looked like a library. Books were scattered on the ground carelessly, and some of them seemed ruined.

Where is she?

She looked around the pile of books, and found books with cover pictures of weird vehicles and people dressed in a what-seemed like a new fashion-way.

Sighing, Ino walked around the library, trying to find someone she can ask for directions. Just where had Madara transported her to? Is Naruto here too?

Ino walked for about ten minutes and still couldn't find a person or a door. There's not even a window! Had Madara locked her in here? She had to find a way to get out! If there is people here, then she can easily take control of their body and use it to find information. But sadly, there's not a single living thing here.

Tired, Ino leaned against a bookshelf to rest and relax. She can't panic. Every ninja knew when they were at somewhere they don't know, the last thing they should do is to panic. Ino tried to clear her minds and remember jutsus that might help in this situation, when the bookshelf behind her clicks and moved back a feet. Ino jumped forward, startled, and watched with a little interest and curiosity as the book shelf moved back and shifted sideways, revealing a dark hallway.

Ino took a small cautious step forward to test whether or not this is a trap, but the floor hadn't cracked nor does arrows started flying everywhere, so she let out a sigh of relief and continued forward. At the end of the hallway, there is a large room with a gigantic screen on the wall facing towards her. On the screen there is a big view of a mass of red hair hovering over a white sheet of paper.

Ino stood still as the red hair on the screen tilted towards the left a little. Questions started forming in her head. Where is she? And..what is this? (Ninjas don't have these advanced technologies) Subconsciously, Ino stumbled forward, but her foot hit something, making her stop. Looking down, Ino noticed a table with a microphone attached on top was blocking her way. As soon as she entered the room, her attention had been caught on the screen, so she unconsciously ignored the table.

Leaning down until her mouth was right beside the microphone, Ino coughed and said hesitantly, "hello? Hello? Anyone here?"

"Wah!" The mop of hair on the screen cried out and fell down, giving Ino a grand view of the white sheet of paper.

It says:

**Steps to Become a Musician:**

Step 1: Learn music

Step 2: Perform at school and gain people's attention and support

Step 3: Join (For example) Talent shows and music shows to test out my music skills.

Step 4: Write songs, play them, and post them online to gain attention of the online society..

...

"Musician?" Ino muttered. The screen zoomed out and the mop of hair turned into a red-headed young boy wearing glasses, who was laying on the ground and holding his bottom.

"W-who! Who are you! C-come out of t-there!" He cried, quickly taking a pencil and pointing it in front of him, waving it around as if it's his ultimate weapon and life saver.

"Me? Shouldn't _you_ introduce yourself before asking _me _my name?" Ino asked, frowning and crossing her arms. She then sat down on the chair placed right behind of her...wait! Where did the chair came from?!

"M-me?! O-oh, sorry! I-I'm Irie Shoichi...umm..who are you?" Shoichi asked timidly, darting his eyes around his room nervously.

"I'm Ino. Do you know where I am?" Ino asked, and added with a little threat in her voice as an afterthought, "oh, and don't try to lie, because I can see past lies easily."

"Gah! I-I-I d-don't know! I don't know w-where you are! Your v-voice just suddenly a-appeared in my h-head!" Shoichi quickly explained, terrified after hearing her threat. A sudden pain in his stomach made him cower but the action was ignored by Ino.

"In you head...?" Biting her lips, Ino looked down at her ninja sandals and rubbed her thumb against her chin. Could it be...?

"U-um...so..?"

Looking up, Ino saw Shoichi was cowering while glancing nervous at her room, as if expecting a monster to suddenly jump out. "What's wrong with your stomach?"

"Huh? O-oh, I-my stomach hurts when I g-gets too nervous...ah itatata..." Shoichi whimpered, pressing his hand hard into his stomach, lessening the pain a little.

Chuckling at this interesting fact, Ino said, "I think I know where I am now."

"Huh? W-where are you!?" Shoichi asked, leaning forward eagerly, forgetting the pain for the moment.

"In your head," Ino deadpanned.

It was silent for a while, until...

"GAHH!" Shoichi yelped, holding his head while his glasses was hanging off his nose, "W-w-what!? M-my h-head!?"

"Shoichi?" A female voice came up from downstairs, Shoichi stood up quickly and rushed towards the door.

"Y-yes?"

"Is everything alright? I thought I heard a girl's voice scream."

Sweat-dropping, Shoichi quickly explained, "y-yeah! Everything's alright mom! I-I'm just going to take a walk!" He then grabbed a jacket, hung his headphone on his neck, and went downstairs, almost bumping into his sister holding a plate of cake as he dashed out of his house.

"So..."

Ino said in his head again, enjoying how Shoichi became so panicked after hearing her announcement.

"Y-yeah?" Surprised by the voice, Shoichi stumbled on a pebble on the ground and almost fell.

"...gotten over your surprise yet?"

"N-not yet..." he replied truthfully. Ino chuckled at the boy's honesty. Seriously, he would never survive in ninja world!

"Hm~" Ino hummed, then something in the screen caught her eyes. It was the same vehicle she saw on the cover of a book in the library, or 'mindscape' as she started calling it now. Having been into many people's mind and body, Ino understood exactly what a 'mindscape' is and how it is different depending to the owner of the body. But she had been so surprised when she first arrived in the mindscape that she forgot to think of the possibility...of Madara transporting her into someone else's body! "What's that?"

"What's what?" Shoichi asked.

"That weird-looking vehicle on the street. It looked like a wagon..but not exactly..."

"Ah? You mean the 'car'? How could you now know what a car is!?" Shoichi asked, pushing his glasses up his nose as it began to slide off. _Could it be that this strange girl-in-my-head grew up in the country side and that's why she never saw a car?_

"Nope! I live in a village, not a country!" Ino corrected.

"Gah! Y-you can hear my thoughts?!" Shoichi cried.

"Hm~ seems so~" Ino replied cheerfully.

"O-oh, uhh, well, anyway...what you mean by village?" Shoichi asked.

"It-"

Before Ino can answer, Shoichi bumped into a couple. The couple looked at him weirdly then walked away, saying "what a weird child, talking to himself like that" and "could it be his invisible friend?"

"S-sorry.." Shoichi mumbled an apology but they went away already. Sighing, he decided to converse with girl-in-his-head just by thinking. It's easier and quicker that way too. _So what do you mean by 'village'?_

"Konoha. Have you ever heard of it?" Ino asked; Shoichi shook his head. Ino sighed and questioned her thought, "just which part of the world do you live in? How can you not know Konoha?! It's famous! Forth Hokage, Nine-tailed fox, Jinchuuriki, Chuunin Exam incident...how can you not know?!"

_Hokage'? Nine-tailed fox?! Are you sure you are not talking about a game? _Shoichi thought. This girl is seriously getting weirder and weirder!

"I'm not weird!" Ino sighed. "Naruto? Tsunade? Sasuke? Uchiha Clan Massacre? Sharingan Kakashi? Akatsuki? Ring any bells?"

_No... I had never heard of those things... Are you sure you aren't toying with me?_

"Of course not! I don't have time to toy with you!" Ino cried as she resisted the urge to bang her head on the table. "Fine. If you've never heard of Konoha, then where do you live? Describe your world."

_Okay.. Um.. Our world were separated into countries...(minus 500 words of explanation)... This is a town in Japan called Namimori. We are led by a mayor that changes once a year..._

"Where's the schools?"

_Schools? What school do you mean?_

"Which school do you go to?!" Ino asked desperately.

_Uh...right now I'm in middle school, in fact, Monday, the day after tomorrow, I'll have to go to school again.._.

"Don't you guys go to Ninja Academy? Oh and where's the ninjas? Why didn't I see any?"

_Ninja!? We don't have ninjas! And I don't know what Academy you're talking about.._

"Then who protects this town!?" Ino asked, getting more and more impatient.

_The police. If that's what you mean..._

"Police?"

_Yeah, you know, holding guns and stuff..._

"Seriously! We are getting nowhere if this conversation continues like this!" Ino groaned, shutting her eyes and banging her head onto the table. "It's as if...as if...we were in two different worlds!"

Shoichi gasped, slapping his forehead, "that must be it! Two different worlds! I've read in novels that alternate universe exists, as well as parallel universe!" He said out loud, his eyes behind his glasses glimmered with excitement. However, his stomach hurt again due to his over excitement, making him hunch his back as he walked.

"Alternate Universe?" Ino thought for a while before hitting her fist to her palm, "that might be possible! Naruto and Sakura told me that Madara had once thrown them into an alternate universe, so it might be possible that that jutsu Madara did can sent people to different universe!"

_Naruto and Sakura? And who's Madara? _Shoichi went back to converse by thinking.

Ignoring Shoichi, Ino continued to ponder, "so that means right now I'm stuck in the head of someone in an alternate universe? And in this universe there is no ninjas!? Wait! I remembered...Naruto got hit too! Could that mean he's also here? Could he also be stuck in another's body?"

"Um...Ino-san? Can you please explain a little to me? I-I'm a little..confused," Shoichi whispered while rubbing his stomach.

Sighing, Ino relaxed on the chair (by the way, where _did _this chair came from?!), and began, "well, seems like I'm stuck here until I find Naruto...or the others come and get me. I guess explaining it to you wouldn't hurt, since we do share a body right now."

"EHHH!? S-s-share a BODY!?" Shoichi screamed, then covered his mouth quickly as people began to glance at his direction. His stomach hurt even more now after hearing what Ino had said. His face also turned a interesting crimson red as he walked faster with hunched back, entering a park. He then went back to converse by thinking, _w-what do you mean!?_

Ino smirked at his reaction. "Why are you so surprised? Or perhaps...you are embarrassed of sharing your body with a girl?" She teased, adding a little flirting feeling into her tone.

As expected, Shoichi's face turned even redder if possible. _I-I-I am a little... _He thought honestly, quickly covering his beat red face with both hands. This is the first time a girl flirted with him... Wait, this is flirting, isn't it?

"Wow, so it's the first time a girl flirted with you?" Ino said, staring at Shoichi's form on the screen with scrutinizing eyes. "Hm~ of course, you dressed too poorly and your hair...ughh...too messy, as if you hadn't washed it for days. And what's with that black rimmed glasses?! It covers half your face! No wonder no girls would want to flirt with you!"

_W-wait! Why are we talking about this now? I t-thought we were talking about alternate universe!_

"Of course we are, but we don't have to talk about it right now. We have all the time in the world~ until my friends come and get me that is, since I have absolutely no idea how to cross universe... so lets just relax and have a nice chat, k? I'm as surprised as you are to find myself being stuck in a _boy's _body, so give me some time to get adjusted okay?" Ino explained.

_O-of course, you can take time to adjust, I'm surprised too, that's why I hope we can sort this out as soon as possible. _Shoichi thought-conversed, it's better if they can be separated as soon as possible. If possible, before tonight he take a...

"-Shower?" Ino added playfully with a smirk. "Don't forget I can read your thoughts!"

"Gah!" Shoichi yelped, he almost forgot about that!

Ino chuckled. This boy is too easy to toy with! His reactions were too funny! "Let's see how you would react to...this!"

"Wha-" Shoichi blinked confusingly, and when he opened his eyes again, he was in a dark room, facing a gigantic screen that showed himself _smirking_, and a table with a microphone attached on top was placed in front of him. Surprisingly, his stomach doesn't hurt anymore. "W-wait w-what!? Where am I!?" He shrieked, and saw 'himself' on the screen held onto his head while his face was scrunched up in a painful expression.

_Don't yell! Damn my head hurts!_

He heard Ino's voice echo in the room. "W-what's going on? Where am I? Where are you!?" He questioned.

The 'himself' on the screen chuckled and said, "hey I'm Ino~ nice to meet you~" in his voice instead of Ino's.

"WHAT!?"

"This is where I had been the whole time," 'himself' explained. "I was stuck in your mindscape, and I found my way here, saw this microphone and the screen. If I speak in this microphone you will hear my voice in your mind. When you think and talk, your thoughts and voice will echo in the room. And right now...I'm just going to borrow your body for a while!"

"W-wait!" Shoichi turned scarlet red. Does this mean she is in _his _body right now? Taking control of _his _body? To his surprise, Ino didn't reply to his thoughts. Does that mean she can't hear his thoughts when he's in his mindscape? Well, that's an advantage...

_'Wait' what?_ Ino thought.

"T-this is my mindscape? As in...how the inside of my mind looked like?" Shoichi questioned. As soon as he saw Ino/'himself' nod, he dashed out of room out of curiosity. This might be his only chance to be inside of his mindscape, so he's going to take good use of the time and see what's in it. And when he's back in control of his body, maybe he can write an article about the inner working of a mind and become famous!

Jogging excitedly, Shoichi reached the end of the hallway and found himself in a large library with books scattered on the ground messily.

"This...is my mindscape? How messy..." he commented. Squatting down, Shoichi scanned his eyes over the book titles. They had all been read by him before at some point in his life. He even saw a 'Cinderella' laying a few meters away from him! Sighing, Shoichi decided to return to that room. He thought he might find something interesting in his mindscape that he can probably write in that article he had named 'The Inner Working of A Human Mind', but he can't actually tell them that the inner mind is a library can he?

Entering the room, the first thing Shoichi saw was himself on the screen making girly faces at a mirror.

"Ahhh! What are you doing Ino-san!" He cried, hurrying towards the microphone so Ino/'himself' can hear his voice.

_Hm~ Nothing~ Just checking. _Ino thought with a smirk. _You have a cute face you know, Shoichi-kun~? If you had actually taken good care of your appearance, I'm sure you can get a bunch of girls falling by your heels!_

"I don't want girls to fall by my heels!" Shoichi argued, but it was vain, for Ino's/'himself's eyes had lid up in a mischievous way. Shoichi could almost see a light bulb appearing on 'himself's head.

_Ohh! I have a good idea! Since I'm a perfectionist and we are sharing a body, why don't I gave you a makeover so you can improve your appearance? Besides, I don't want my temporary body to look ugly and be laughed at!_

"I..I'm u-ugly?"Shoichi muttered as imaginary fake tears began to stream down his face.

_No! Of course not!_ Ino thought quickly._ I've said already, you have a cute face, you just need to take better care of your appearance, then you would look much better than before! But don't you worry, the legendary Yamanaka Ino has the ability to turn anyone into a super star!_

"Um...actually I don't really want to change my appearance.."

_Nuh uh! No arguing! I am giving you a makeover no matter what! I will not allow my temporary appearance to look imperfect!_

"Fine...but please don't make too big changes..." Shoichi said dejectedly. From the talk they had for the past twenty or so minutes, he already knew Ino is a stubborn girl, and she wouldn't let anyone stand in her way. Even if he objects, Ino would still do the makeover. Besides, he had no power to stop her since he doesn't know how to get out of his mindscape and take back his control of his body.

_Don't worry! When you go to this 'middle school' place next...Monday...(I got the day right didn't I?), I promise you I will make all girls drool after you!_

"I told you I don't want that!"

* * *

-Home-

After a bit of arguing and toying with Shoichi, with a few wrong turns here and there, Ino finally arrived at Shoichi's home. Using the key in Shoichi's back pocket, Ino opened the door, and with her best 'Shoichi's normal tone', she said, "I'm home!"

A young girl with red hair tied into two pony tails that fell down her shoulders came out of what seemed like the living room and stared at Shoichi strangely, "where did you go, Shoichi?"

"Uh..I went to take a walk...got to clear up some thoughts," Ino mumbled, copying Shoichi's talking style perfectly. After all, she _does_ work as an ANBU spy in her own ninja world.

**SPY!?**

Ignoring Shoichi, Ino said as she started towards the stairs, "I'm going to my room now...I felt a little tired..."

"Okay, tell me if you don't feel well! Mom went out to shop, so she told me to take care of you," Shoichi's sister sighed as she rubbed her forehead, as if taking care of her brother is the worst possible thing in the world.

"Okay, I will," Ino said as she entered Shoichi's room. She remembered this is the room he came out of when he exited his house. Also, even if she doesn't remember, the name placard 'Irie Shoichi, future musician' on the door can surely help her out. "So you want to become a musician huh?" She asked as she opened his closet, thus diverting Shoichi's attention from her action.

**Yeah, I want to become a guitarist. Joining a band would be great, but I'd rather play by myself.**

"Well, well, aren't you a loner~?" Ino teased, fumbling through his closet, trying to find clothing with better quality.

**I-it's not like I wanted to be a loner! I had no choice...**

"Hm~? How comes?"

**I'm not..um..very sociable..as you can probably tell. I tend to get nervous when I talk to others. And when I'm nervous, I get stomach ache. People think I'm weird...y-you know...and besides, being a nerd doesn't really help... **

"Nerd?"

**Y-yeah...I'm not really good at anything other than school, and I don't have friends, so I spend my time with books everyday.**

"What type of books?"

**Um...science fiction, robotics, engineering, time travel...those are few of my favorite types...**

"So you like science? Want to be a scientist?"

**Actually...I was thinking of becoming an engineer...since I like mechanics and my parents think that being an engineer can make lots of money... But saying the truth, I really want to be a musician.**

"Why do you like music so much?"

**Music relieves me from stress! It makes me forget all the terrible things and can help me relax! I would bring my headphone everywhere to listen to music! Oh! By the way, this headphone is brought to me by my dad as my eleven years old birthday present! It broke before but I managed to fix it myself! My favorite band is 'Blood &amp; Peppers'! Their songs are all rock and pop and...**

Ino giggled as Shoichi rambled on about how awesome 'Blood &amp; Peppers's songs were. _This boy is actually pretty cute...seems like he really loves music..._

* * *

When Shoichi is done with his babble of his favorite band, he looked back up at the screen, only to see total darkness.

"I-ino-san! What's happening!?" He panicked, pushing himself off of the chair and leaning across the table, trying to see through the darkness.

_So you're finally done, huh? _Came Ino's voice, echoing in the room. The darkness on the screen turned bright again, and immediately, Shoichi's jaw dropped at the sight.

"W-w-what a-are you w-wearing!?" He screeched, pointing his finger at 'himself' on the screen who had just sat up from the bed and was now making cool poses at the mirror.

_Why? Don't you like it?_ Ino pouted, which looked surprisingly cute on Shoichi's face.

Shoichi scanned his own body, which now looked no longer like his.

First of all, his face. Ino had smoothed out his curly hair so it's no longer messy, but now looked tamed and a little shaggy. She also wore a sunglasses which he had only seen the bad guys in movies wore, which actually looked pretty cool on him along with the shaggy hair style. For the torso, Ino selected a black tank top, a long sleeved red and black striped shirt, and a baggy zipped up jacket that said 'Blood &amp; Peppers' on the back in bloody red letters and has a mini crest of the band in the front.

Shoichi had gotten the jacket as a souvenir when he went to 'Blood &amp; Peppers's concert a few years ago, but had accidentally got one size too big for him. But he only found out when he was half way home, so he decided to just keep it. He rarely has time to wear the jacket, since at school he wore uniform, and at home he usually wears something casual and _normal_, this jacket...is not so normal and doesn't fit his personality right.

Ino also placed many chains around his neck, which Shoichi has no idea where she had gotten them from.

For the pants, Ino chose one of the skinny jeans but cut out the knees parts _professionally_ to make it look ripped. She also placed many more chains on the hoops of the jeans.

"Y-you cut out my jeans!" Shoichi shrieked, watching with horror as 'himself' placed only his thumbs in his pants pocket and lips curling into an attractive smirk.

_I knew you wouldn't look bad if you actually _worked_ on your appearance. Now you just need a few ear piercings..._

"YOU CUT OUT MY JEANS!" Shoichi roared, annoyed at Ino for ignoring him.

"Damn it! Don't yell!" Ino grabbed his/her head, groaning. _Com'on, I cut your pants to make you look better. What's wrong with that?_

"What's wrong!? My mom will see it and she'll get mad at me!" Shoichi paled at the thought of his mom yelling at him for cutting his pants without her permission and grounding him and lowering his allowance.

_Don't worry! I'm sure she'll be happy that her dear baby finally grew up and learned the importance of catching up with _fashion~_ After all, first impression is very important!_ Ino reassured, clasping her hands together happily as she said.

"B-but-!"

_Ahh just quit it and trust me!_ Ino thought, frustrated. _I'm a female and your mom's a female! We females know what to do and think in this situation! ALL females knew the importance of FASHION! (_**AN: **I don't) _She would be _very happy_ to see you finally deciding to alter your appearance!_

"Fine! But I'm NOT using that appearance! It doesn't fit my personally and it makes me look like a delinquent!" Shoichi argued. He knew he couldn't win Ino in a verbal fight for Ino is too stubborn and she holds control over his body; it will always end with what she wants. But there's absolutely NO WAY IN HELL he's going to wear _that_!

_Fine! But you are going with me to shopping tomorrow!_ "No actually..." Ino muttered the last part. _Since we are in this body together, then I should say '_we_ are going shopping tomorrow'._

"S-shopping?!"

_Yeah, _shopping_. Got any complain?_ Ino's face darkened.

"N-no! Not at all!" Shoichi replied quickly, he could almost feel the cold atmosphere from inside his mind, although he knew it's only a figment of his imagination. "B-but why?"

_Why?! Look at your closet! _Ino swung open his dresser sharply, revealing a whole closet of t-shirts, simple jackets with faded colors, and multiple sets of jeans that looked exactly the same. _T-shirt...t-shirt...long-sleeved t-shirt...why don't you have anything other than t-shirt!? Seriously! I can't stand these any longer! There's no fashion, styled...AT ALL!_

"But what's so important about fashion? I think that I shouldn't waste so much money on clothing. As long as they fit, they're fin-"

_WASTE!? This is NOT called wasting! Using money on clothing is not WASTING! 'Wasting' is buying stuff and not using them. But if you buy clothes and wear them, then you are not 'wasting'! Buying clothes and catching up with fashion is NEVER WASTING!_

Ino's voice echoed in the room so loudly that Shoichi bet that it's audible even at the end of the hallway towards the library.

"Okay! Okay! Fine! I'll go shopping with you, okay?" Shoichi sighed, "But promise me you'll leave me alone and stop bugging me if I do so."

_Only if _I _choose the clothes and you promise to _wear_ them_.

"Okay okay I promise..."

_Hm hm~ that's better!_

Shoichi sighed.

Seriously.

Girls. Are. Troublesome.

* * *

"I'm home~" Shoichi's mother's voice came from downstairs. Both Ino and Shoichi (in the mind) perked up at the voice. "Today's dinner is sushi!"

**Mom's home! Ino-san! Take off the clothes quickly! Don't let her see it!**

_But should I...?_ Ino acted undecided, almost making Shoichi stomp his foot in panic.

**YES! She's home and if she sees this...punk...clothes then she would think there's something wrong with me and probably take me to the doctor and get me checked and she'll worry over me day and night and I don't want that since it's really annoying and-**

_Fine, I'll take it off, just stop rambling, okay?_ Ino thought, proceeding to undo the pants, when Shoichi screeched again.

**Hiaahh! No-nono- d-don't! Don-'t!**

_What now!? _Ino thought, annoyed at being interrupted.

**Let me do it! I'll change it myself!**

_Fine. It's not like you have anything interesting for me to see. _Ino said teasingly as she entered the mindscape, letting Shoichi take over.

As soon as Shoichi regained control of his body, he told Ino to close her eyes as he quickly changed into his normal clothes, hid the 'punk' clothes, messed up his hair, put on his glasses, and went downstairs just as his mother called him down for dinner.

_Don't say anything when I'm eating dinner okay?_ He thought.

**Fine fine... I'll go read some books...**

Dinner went peacefully. Shoichi ate one box of sushi (which was eight) and a few pieces of sashimi. Although he may look skinny and fragile, his appetite was huge since he **is** a teenager. He was ready to get up and go take a shower when his mother said something that caught his attention.

"...and to think that Tsunayoshi-kun was the one who did it!" His mother exclaimed happily.

"Tsunayoshi?" Shoichi asked.

"Yeah. You've heard of him haven't you? He's 'famous'! Well, in a different way," said his sister.

Shoichi nodded. "Yeah, of course I've heard of him. Tsunayoshi Sawada, twin brother of Natsuyoshi Sawada. What's wrong with him?"

"Haven't you been listening? 'Dame-Tsuna' just-"

"Emiko!" She was cut off by her angry mother. "Don't call him 'dame-Tsuna'! That's rude!"

"But mom! Everyone calls him that!" Emiko argued.

"Then be different from everyone and don't call him that! What would you think _you_ would feel if others call you 'dame'?"

"But- if I don't call him that then I can't fit in! High School is all about fitting in! And if I don't, I'll be like Shoichi or dam-...or Tsunayoshi and be laughed at! Besides, no one would call me 'dame' since I'm far from that!" Emiko said.

"Fitting in is not important! Being yourself is what's important! Don't care what others think about you since High School is only like..what? A few hundred people? When you get into college, you'll meet _thousands_ of _mature_ people who don't know you and don't care who you were when you were in High School! So why does it matter if a few hundreds of people laugh at you because you were being yourself?" Her mom said, spits flying.

"Let them laugh! When you get into college, you'll be the one to laugh since college students choose friends more wisely than the immature high school students! They would rather be friends with truthful, selfless people who would _not _laugh at others just to fit in, than people who bully others just because 'everyone' does that, because friends you make in college are mostly likely people you're going to associate with throughout your adulthood. Everyone would make friends with people who are 'useful' and would lend them a hand, not people who are too afraid to be their true self. Those people would never survive in the real world!"

As the mother-daughter pair argued heatedly, Shoichi's father crept up to him and whispered while looking terrified, "that's why you should never anger girls."

Shoichi gulped, remembering how scary Ino seemed when she talked about fashion and clothing. "Yeah, you're right. So, what were you guys talking about before?"

"We heard that someone tried to steal Tsuyoshi-san's valuable items, but it ended up with a mistake...or so it seemed. That's what everyone had been saying."

"No, I mean the 'Tsunayoshi' one," Shoichi corrected his father.

"Oh that," his father tapped his chin. "Tsuyoshi-san's son tried to suicide yesterday, but Tsunayoshi-kun saved him."

"Yamamoto Takeshi? That star baseball player of Namimori-chuu?" Shoichi asked. Yamamoto was famous because of his excellent baseball skill.

"Yes. Apparently, Tsunayoshi-kun was the one who successfully talked him out of it while everyone else couldn't. Unbelievable isn't it?" His father chuckled.

"Not even Natsuyoshi-san?" Shoichi exclaimed. The Sawada brothers were known all over Namimori. Of how the older brother, Natsuyoshi, was an ace student and the savior of many targets-of-bullies, while the younger brother, Tsunayoshi, was very 'dame'.

"No. The witnesses said that he tried, but Tsunayoshi-kun was the one who talked him out of it at the end."

"Wow!"

**BAM!**

The father-son pair turned their attention to the noise, and found Emiko stood up with her fist on the table.

"SHUT UP! You don't understand me AT ALL!" She cried and ran upstairs, slamming the door as she entered her bedroom, which was next to Shoichi's.

The father-son pair stared wide-eyed at Emiko's leaving figure then glanced back at the mother, who was covering her face with a tissue.

"Shoichi, go upstairs," his father ordered, his tone held a type of firmness that made Shoichi's hard to refuse.

"Okay," Shoichi nodded as he left the dining table. Although his father may appear useless and happy-go-lucky, he knew that his father was the one who had the most use in this situation.

Shoichi then took a shower quickly, just in case Ino decided to come into the 'mind' room to see what he's doing. The warmth of the water made him forget the scenery downstairs. He just lay in the water, relaxing. By the time he finished his shower, he forgot about the scenery completely. After all, it wasn't that terrible and important. His dad was good at comforting people and making them smile. Leave it to his dad and everything will be alright. While his sister... well, that's the type of person she is. She, like all the girls, can be very stubborn when she wanted to be. If his mother can't change her, then how can he? So the best choice right now is to leave both of them alone and pray things would get better.

11:00 PM. Shoichi lay on his bed, thinking whether or not he can survive until next Monday.

_Ino-san? Are you there? _Bored, he thought.

_Hello? _He thought again when he received no reply, but it was still silent in his mind. So he decided to gave up and just sleep. Maybe Ino had found some interesting books to read and got too into it.

* * *

Shoichi was right actually. Ino did found an interesting book and she got totally hooked by it. When she left the control room, she was thinking of maybe take a nap at the library and then go find Shoichi when she wakes up. By then, he should be done with his dinner. Ino wasn't interested in books; she likes clothing and fashion magazines more than novels. To her, novels were boring, and seeing the type of person Shoichi was, she's sure none of the books he read would seem interesting to her.

However, when she was clearing up an area on a clean ground to nap on, a book caught her eyes: "Sweet Blood" by Yuna Akihisa. The name was printed on the cover in bold crimson red. The cover showed a boy and a girl standing back to back, both of them were drenched in blood and had a sad but peaceful expression plastered on their face.

Ino flipped through the book; it's a manga. On the back cover, the synopsis said.

_Miki and Maki were twin brother and sister. They grew up in a small town where superstition was believed by everyone. There was a myth saying at a certain time in a certain place, the god will answer the wishes of those he chooses. Many have tried to find the location and time, but none have succeeded._

_The twin lived with their abusive parents. Due to their abusive parents, their bond with each other grew stronger and stronger as time passes. When they were eleven, their parents finally decided to divorce with Miki leaving with her father and Maki leaving with his mother. The twin doesn't want to be separated and they have a feeling that if they do, they will never meet each other again. Leaving with no choice, they began searching for the location mentioned in the myth..._

The synopsis caught Ino's attention, persuading her to open the first page of the book.

The story started with introducing the town, the myth, and the twin. Then it goes into describing the twin's horrible childhood and their abusive parents. In chapter three, the story began with the twin overhearing their parents decision to divorce, then onto the trip of the search for the mysterious location mentioned in the myth. They have asked many people who have tried to search for the location but failed, and the answers they got were all, "I don't remember." They only remembered the trip to the location, and after that, they don't recall anything. Maki and Miki believed that they had found the location, but something caused them to lose their memories. So they asked those people for the location they went to and started looking for it.

After going through many hardship, they finally met the God and told it their wish. The God asked them to pay him a price and they responded with 'anything'. At that moment, they realized the real cause of the other's loss of memories. The God had taken it as a price! Finally realizing the truth, Maki and Miki quickly changed their answer and began a word game with the God. Using strategies and logic, they managed to trap the God using words. At the end, the God gave up and granted their wish.

Their wish was to 'stay together no matter what', and in return, they had gotten a book called 'Connections'. The author's name was scribbled out.

The book taught them how to use blood and something called 'spirit' that exists in everyone's body to build mind connections with each other. With that, they can communicate to each other by thinking even when they were at the opposite end of the world!

At the point, Ino gasped as she read the steps to build a 'mind connection'. This 'spirit' is just like 'chakra'! It exists in everyone's body, check. It is a form of energy, check. Only certain people can use it, check! Could this 'mind connection' be possible by using chakra instead of spirit? But who should Ino build a mind connection with?

Naruto.

Ino decided. Naruto was the only one who had also gone to this universe. If Ino can find him, then she would build a mind connection with him so they would never lose contacts with each other! This is such an interesting technique! She would tell everyone when she get back to Konoha and maybe this can also help on their battle against Madara!

Excitedly, Ino continued reading the manga.

After Maki and Miki's parents divorced, they remarried with someone who had also divorced recently and had bore a child. Ever since, their parents have their whole attention on their new lover and their new child, leaving their own child forgotten.

At the end, Maki and Miki killed everyone and escaped. They later got caught by the police and got put into the same prison cell. The last page of the manga was them smiling peacefully for finally being together.

Ino closed the book. The book was interesting, but what stuck into her mind the most was the mind connection technique. She couldn't wait to take over Shoichi's body and try it out! Of course, that is until she found Naruto, or someone worthy of her to try it on.

Placing the book neatly onto the shelf, Ino exited the library and entered the control room. The screen was pitch black, meaning Shoichi was probably asleep.

"It's this late already?" Ino muttered and yawned, deciding to sleep for a while. She lay down on the stony ground for a while...a minute...a hour...

"God dammit!" Ino jumped up, face retorted in anger. She's feeling sleepy but she couldn't sleep at all! Is it because she's in the mindscape?

Closing her eyes, Ino concentrated on getting out of the mindscape. Immediately, there was a pull at her navel and when she opened her eyes, she was staring at the ceiling of Shoichi's bedroom. Ino was slightly bewildered at how easy it was to take over Shoichi's body but she didn't think much of it. Turning on the soft mattress, Ino fell asleep.

.

.

In the control room, Shoichi was laying on the ground, snoozing...

* * *

**AN #1: **Sorry for Ino's OOCness... Also, you might think that Shoichi's father was a bit like Iemitsu, but I actually wrote him based on my dad, who jokes around all the time but can be serious if he wants to be. I just want to clear it up if you have any questions about him. As for the manga 'Sweet Blood', I came up with the plot and title all by myself. So if you see anything similar to it, please note that it's was mere coincidence.

**AN #2: **I've planned out this whole story already, and I'm going to announce here so you don't get mad when you read it:

Some of the antagonists in the future might be ooc in order to fit the plot. They might not be as powerful as they are *coughmadaratobiobitocough*. Also some of the attacks/jutsus might be easIER to learn. I'm very sorry if you find this annoying, but I need it in order for this story to work. It's the only ending I can think of.

Because right now in Naruto, people are gaining more and more power, becoming more and more bad ass. People are always like *oh I forgot I had this super awesome ultra jutsu that can kill all my enemies at once!* There's too many asspull. Dead people kept on coming back to life. When Naruto became stronger, his enemies ALWAYS becomes even MORE stronger, and Naruto had to become MORE stronger to defeat them. And when he killed them, some stupid people revive them again and they suddenly earned a new power, and the process goes on again and again. It's REALLY hard to work out a perfect plot and fit everything in. So I have to change a couple of things and make them less powerful.

Also, this story is AU, if you haven't noticed already, so the plot and characters will be slightly different from the canon, which means there will be possible OOC characters.

So there, I have said it already, if you don't like antagonists being weaker and possible ooc, then don't read it. I don't want to receive flames and feel depressed and want to give up on this fanfic and do bad at school because of those reviews that hurt my feelings. I already have enough stress from school, SAT, college, failing computer programming C++ (TAT), and even more pressure from my parents, I don't need to read heart-breaking reviews to stress me even further.

If you do flame me, I will use this super awesome counter move I prepared...EAT THE FLAMES-NATSU no Jutsu! *the one from Fairy Tail :D*

I would LOVE YOU TO DEATH (and hug you to death ;D) if you are okay with it and promise not to flame me. Thank you very much~

**AN #3: **In the one month with no fanfiction, I've improved my grade by a bit:

A-

A-

A

A

A

D-

Yup, the D- is computer. I've figured out that since it's sooo frickin hard to improve my computer grade, I'll start with my other grades. So now it's 5 A's and 1 D, my GPA is now 3.5. It's still bad but not as low as before, so I decided to update! :D PS: All my friends had an 'lol' expression when I showed them my report card. It's either straight A's or bad scores. I bet they'd never seen anyone with that many A's and an-almost F! It's just doesn't fit right!

**PS:** I've started writing a book on Wattpad. It's called "Super Lottery System", by "LonerKid", genre is Teen Fiction / Random. You might think, oh system, game, missions? Is this another game novel? Boring, I hate these types. But i assure you, you will be surprised when you read this book. I promise I won't disappoint you. One reader told me that my story is extremely UNIQUE and she/he had never read a story like this on Wattpad before. It's very different from other stories. So please give my book a try, thank you ^^

.

Next chapter: Monday! Shopping! And the unexpected...?


	6. Chapter 5 Clothes, Girls, and-

**AN:** I have excuses for a chapter this late, but I will say it at the end of chapter, cuz I know you guys can't wait to read this chapter, and even if I said the excuse now, you guys are just gonna ignore me right? (*^_^*)

Btw...why are you still reading this!? o(╯□╰)o Starting reading the MAIN CONTENT! Ｏ(≧口≦)Ｏ

**Mind person's talk**

_Thoughts of the person in control_

* * *

**Updated: **Dec. 10, 2014, 1:11 AM

**Chapter 5 Clothes, Girls, and Dangerous Friends**

On the bright sunny Sunday, Ino woke up early due to her years of Shinobi training. She stared at the starry wallpaper plastered on the ceiling for a while, unable to register her surrounding. Then, memories of yesterday flooded into her mind, and Ino sat up with a small smile.

"No more Akatsuki, no more Madara, let's put a smile on my face!"

Ino slipped off bed, slightly surprised at her weak and masculine body, and walked out of Shoichi's room. She doesn't want to wait two or three hours for Shoichi to wake up while enduring the awful morning breath, so she's going to help Shoichi brush his teeth.

Walking into the bathroom, Ino almost bumped into a red-haired girl who was stepping out of the bathroom.

"Nee-chan?" Ino faked a surprise as she 'faltered' in her step.

"Shoichi?" Emiko said while drying her hair with a pink fluffy towel, apparently, she had just finished showering. "What are you doing up this early?"

"Well," Ino began as she 'regained' her balance. "I'm gonna meet up with some friends today."

"Oh? Never knew you had friends," Emiko said with a surprised tone. The words may sound insulting but Ino can tell she doesn't mean it. "I'm going out with my friends too, but we're going shopping, so you can't come." She hanged her towel on the hanger that's attached to the wall. "You can use it now, I'm done."

Ino waited for Emiko to disappear in her room before stepping in and closing the door. Next to the sink is a cup holding two toothbrushes (one blue and one red) and a toothpaste. Ino took the blue one and, with slight hesitation (since she's using a boy's toothbrush), used it to brush her teeth. After she washed her face, she, due to it being a habit, took the facial lotion and applied it to her, more specifically, Shoichi's face. Ino then went back into Shoichi's bedroom and began dressing Shoichi's self.

After about two hours, a frustrated but clearly awake voice said in her mind.

**You stole my body again!**

_Took you long enough to find out._

Ino smirked as Shoichi growled.

_You were sleeping and I woke up early, so I helped you did your morning routine._

**Y-you what?**

Ino raised a brow at Shoichi's panicked tone.

_What's the matter?_

**D-did you..you know...t-the t-t-toil-l-et...t-that..**

It took Ino a few seconds to understand what Shoichi's panicking about.

_Hm...did I? I think I do remember seeing something blue and red with a letter 'S'..._

**AHHH! Y-you saw my u-u-underw-wear!**

_Oh I did? Thanks for reminding me! Now I remembered that super cute Superman picture imprinted-_

**AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!**

Ino giggled at Shoichi's exasperate scream.

_Alright alright, I'll stop teasing you. Here-_

She said, giving Shoichi his control of his body.

**Use it wisely.**

She said in a teasing tone.

Shoichi huffed and turned, and screamed again.

"Shoichi?" Emiko poked her head out of her door, glancing at her brother's room. "You alright?"

"I-I'm fine, nee-chan." Shoichi said from his position behind the door. "No need to worry!"

"Alright then," Emiko closed her door.

Shoichi locked the door quickly and stared into the mirror. Apparently, Ino had decided to do a makeover on him again.

He had to admit he actually looked quite good. Ino had applied gel to his bangs to make them slicked back, but she left the rest of his hair untouched, letting his curls drape down his neck. Looking down on himself, he found himself wearing a long-sleeved white tee and a forest green checkered short-sleeved button-up. As for pants, Ino selected a simple casual jeans.

Shoichi sighed. Thank god she didn't make him look emo again.

**Alright! You ready?**

_For what?_

**SHOPPING!**

"Er..." Shoichi rubbed his forehead. _Alright, let's go. _He thought as he put on his glasses. Picking up his headphone and iphone and hanging it on his neck, Shoichi walked out of his room.

**Do you have to bring that everywhere you went?**

_Well, music and technology. That's what makes up me._

Shoichi replied. When he walked out of Emiko's room, he knocked on her door.

"Nee-chan, do you want me to make you something?" He asked, opening her door a little and peaking inside.

"Nah," she replied with muffled voice as she put on her makeups. "I'll make them myself."

"Okay."

After making something simple to eat, Shoichi exited his house.

* * *

The next two hours was torture for Shoichi. After letting Ino take over his body, she practically _flew_ from store to store, and ran her hands over and tried on almost _every_ piece of clothing the stores provide. Shoichi was surprised that his body can move that quick!

Now Ino was tired, Shoichi finally had back his control of his body, and is currently carrying a mass number of bags, panting as he once again adjusted his glasses so it won't slip off his sweaty nose.

Just then, he saw a familiar figure at a store somewhere in front of him.

**Did I see what I think I saw?**

"I think you did, but..." Shoichi said uncertainly.

**Let's get closer!**

Shoichi heeded Ino's suggestion and crept up on the figure, hiding behind a large oak tree.

When he's closer, he could see Emiko carrying loads of bags along with three girls with heavy make-ups.

* * *

"Damn, I bought too much," girl A said, frowning as she shook her empty wallet.

"You always buy too much," said girl B as she stuck out her tongue childishly. "See?" She hold up her shopping bags, which were three times less than girl A's.

"Ay ay, I get it," girl A pouted, averting her eyes. She widened her eyes when she saw something. "OMG! 70% off on all skirts?! Until sold out?!"

Her shout brought attention to the three other girls, including Emiko.

"You are kidding me..." girl B muttered, shock evident on her face.

"What are you waiting for!? Let's go!" girl C yelled as she fished out her wallet, already ready for 'battle,' but then noticed the lightness of her wallet. "Oh shit."

"What?" The other two girls asked annoyed.

Girl C replied by showing her friends the inside of her wallet. Emptiness.

"Ugh.." Girl A started fidgeting with her own empty wallet.

"Hm..." Girl B checked her wallet, and only found less than 500 yen.

"Well," Emiko finally spoke, stepping back as she does so. "Why don't we go home and get more-"

"Actually, Emiko, um can you lend me some money?" Girl C asked uncertainly though her tone was firm. "I promise I'll pay you back!"

"But you said that last time too and you didn't..." Emiko began, but was cut off by girl B.

"Don't be so selfish," girl B swung her arm around Emiko, her pony tails swinging with the wind. "We are friends aren't we? And aren't friends supposed to help each other when needed?"

"Um..." Emiko was still uncertain. Should she give in or not? If she refuses, then would they stop being her friends?

Girl A erased the rest of her uncertainty with a hug from behind.

"Please~~~~~~!" She purred, adding tears into her glassy eyes.

"Al-alright," Emiko sighed. But as soon as she took out her wallet, her friends swiped it away from her hand.

"Wow, you still have a lot left!" Girl A turned away as she peaked inside the wallet. "Thank god you didn't buy much. I mean...you never buy much. Lucky~!"

"Alright," girl B said. "Yosh! Get ready ladies and germs! Cuz we're gonna-"

She didn't finish because she was sent flying into the air.

(AN: Sorry if the OC's are confusing)

* * *

-Back to Shoichi and Ino-

As they watched the scene, they finally began to understand the situation.

"No way, those were nee-chan's friends?" Shoichi muttered. "They are more like..."

**Bullies!**

Ino finished it for him.

"But I thought she's really popular in her school. Why is she with those-"

**F*cking cockroaches that deserves to be held under Itachi's genjutsu for three days and seventy-two hours then placed under Ibiki's watch and be tortured in every way possible then lock them with fore-head girl while she's at her maddest moment and sent them to Madara and have them listen to his crazy 'master' plan to take over the world for forty-nine days- Oh wait, he will kill them by then. Never mind then. Wait, that's actually a good thing.**

_Um...if I may ask...why are you so riled up by this?_

Shoichi asked, completely soaked up with cold sweat as he listened to Ino's evil cackling. Normally, this level of bullying is quite common. That's why Shoichi doesn't understand why Ino is so mad after seeing this.

Inside his mind, however, Ino was having a reminiscence of when she first found out about Naruto's childhood.

It was after the Pein invasion of Konoha. Naruto had told all his friends about the Kyuubi and thus explaining why the villagers used to call him 'demon brat' and the horrible treatments he had. Of course Naruto didn't tell them his childhood in detail, since he's the type to hide his pain, but everyone could tell how much pain he had gone through. Being hated but doesn't know why, being called names by almost everyone, having no one to be his friends because their parents forbid them, being bullied by everyone...

Thinking back, even those he considered friends had once bullied him in some way, either by being ignorant of other's treatment of him or by mocking him along with others. When everyone realized that, they all hated themselves, and even wanted to travel back to the past and re-do everything again.

Ino was one of those who had it the worst, along with Sakura, because she was never not mean to Naruto. Every time she sees him, she would call him names or beat him up for annoying Sasuke, or simply for being present. But even with all that, Naruto's still nice to her and saved her life countless times.

That made Ino extremely guilty; she promised herself to wash away her iniquities starting then. It may not cleanse her sins, but it can at least make her feel less guilty. She also began hating the act of bullying ever since.

So after seeing the bullying act from Emiko's so-called 'friends', though they weren't very aggressive about it, Ino was remembered of how her bullying affected Naruto's childhood, and without realizing, she had already taken over Shoichi's body and was charging towards the three annoying faces with an angry fist ready.

* * *

"SMACK!"

Emiko and her two other friends stared, stunned, at their pony-tailed friend as she went soaring across the sky and falling into a large trash can, which thankfully prevented her immediate death. When the two other girls turned, they were beyond surprised to see a red-haired boy glaring daggerly at the them as if he would and could kill them on the spot if not for the laws refraining him.

"Shoichi!?" Emiko cried. "What the hell are you doing to my friend!?"

"That's not 'friend', nee-chan. That _bitch_," Ino spat venomously, eyes literally blazing with heat, "does not deserve to be your friend."

Emiko was taken back by her brother's words. _Is this really Shoichi? When did he become so...violent?_

"Hey you brat! What do you think you are doing to our friend?!" Girl C screeched while the other one went checking up the girl in the trashcan.

"Getting rid of trash," Ino sneered. "And if you don't leave nee-chan alone, I will do the same to you."

The girl shuddered, remembering how the boy had defeated her friend with one punch, but gathered up her courage and said. "I-if you think we'd let you g-get away with that, y-you're wrong!"

"Oh really? Let's see it then, _bitches_," Ino began, but was unprepared to take a sharp slap in the face.

_What the-!_

Ino looked up, startled, to see Emiko glaring at her. "Nee-chan?"

"Shoichi you idiot!" Emiko screamed. "Don't you dare call my friends that! And what do you think you're doing, suddenly coming over and punching my friend? Who gives you the right to do that? Huh!?"

"But they were bull-"

"They were _not_!" Emiko dropped her head, crying silently. "Go home Shoichi."

"But-"

"Please! Just go home!" Emiko implored, turning away from Ino.

Ino narrowed her eyes, but nonetheless said, "a-alright. Just be careful, nee-chan. I don't want to see you to get hurt." She then turned and left.

* * *

After arriving home, Ino stomped into Shoichi's room and collapsed onto his bed almost instantly, and returned the body to Shoichi.

**What the hell is she thinking!? Does she even _know_ she's been bullied!?**

Shoichi lay on his bed, sighing as he listened to Ino's ranting.

Saying the truth, he's quite mad himself when he saw the treatment his sister was getting from her so-called 'friends.' He had always thought that she's one of those girls who had lots of friends and is the ring leader in her circle of friends. But after the scene today, he's obviously wrong about his sister.

When Ino took over his body and punched the girl in the face, Shoichi didn't even bother arguing or trying to get his body back, because he himself actually wanted to do exactly what Ino had done. Ever since he's a child, he's weak, nerdy, and had to be protected by his older sister. He'd always wanted to be strong and protect his sister for once. And after seeing Emiko getting bullied, he immediately wanted to rush in and help her, to show her that he is _not_ a coward, too bad his lack of courage held him back, so he can only let Ino do it.

He seriously need to work on his courage.

**Hey are you even listening to me!?**

_Yeah I am._

**Good. So anyway, we don't know what your sister is up to, and hopefully, after the scene today, she will stop being their friend. If not...we'll have to see about that. I mean, we can't _force_ her to leave her friends, can we? Or maybe we can just beat up all those girls and threaten them to stay away from Emiko-san...**

_That's not going to work._

**And pray tell, why?**

_Nee-chan is very sensitive when it comes to friends. If her friends suddenly stop talking to her, she will feel guilty, thinking it's all her fault. And then she will become paranoid and think every action we take have something to do with her, and every negative thing we talked about is related to her._

**So basically, she becomes a pessimist.**

_Yes, though not that pessimistic, she just starts exaggerating things._

**So all we have to do is to get those girls away from her, AND get her a new friend to let her know that there are people other than those three bitches who would willingly become her friend.**

_But...that might not work either._

**Explain.**

_Well, when she becomes pessimistic, she shuts herself up completely, so it's hard to get inside the personal boundary she set up for herself. And besides, where do we find a person who would wanted to truly befriend nee-chan, not for an act?_

**I think I know one, but for now, we need to focus on how to get rid of these bitches. Bullies should all go to hell!**

Shoichi sweat-dropped.

* * *

That night Emiko came home without saying anything to anyone. She shut herself in her room, refusing to eat dinner or talk to her parents. Shoichi didn't talk to her, knowing she's still mad at what he, or rather, what Ino had done. But when Shoichi's ready to sleep, he heard quiet whimpers from the room next to his.

The next morning, Shoichi woke up and let Ino took over his body. He had agreed to let her do a small makeover on him on that school day just so he can shut her up about his messy hair, out-of-fashion style, and the ragged way he dressed his uniform. He thought Ino would make a huge change on him again, and he's even ready for it, but to his surprise, she didn't.

She still dressed him in the same uniform, the usual black button-up with a stand-up collar and black pants, but the outer appearance looks more refreshed. His hair was combed and gel was applied, making his usual messy hair appear tamed. She also washed his face with facial foam that morning, to wash away the oil and dirt. It's just a simple change, and that's all Shoichi needed to look freshened and awake, much different from his usual messy and tired self.

At school, Shoichi's change hasn't caused a big commotion, since he's isn't that 'popular,' but many classmates have found out and started seeing Shoichi in a new light. Though not enough to raise a fan club, Shoichi's change still caused a few girls to blush at his sight, thinking 'he's actually quite cute.' And not just the girls, due to his change, more people talked to Shoichi than usual, and Shoichi was surprised to find a few male classmates to be also fans of "Blood &amp; Peppers" and/or loves science fiction.

All in all, Shoichi had a great day. He had made a few friends who shared the same interests as he does, and had actually talked to a few cute girls!

Perhaps he should thank Ino for giving him that makeover.

While Shoichi's having fun, Ino's also enjoying the experience of 'going to a school that doesn't teach ninja techniques.' She noted all the differences and was already planning on telling them to her fellow ninja friends when she returned to Konoha, showing them the interesting school life of an ordinary Japanese civilian boy.

Two weeks past since the day of Shoichi's change, and Shoichi had already made his small group of friends. Life these two weeks was perfect for Shoichi. He's not a loner anymore; he had friends to talk to (other than Ino)!

However, one night's encounter placed a stop in Shoichi's peaceful life.

* * *

**AN: **This chapter was supposed to be longer, but I've hit a small writer's block, and it might take a while to break it (see the rants below), and I don't wanna keep you guys waiting any longer, so I'll post the 1st half of this chapter first.

The underlined part is all rants and excuses. You can skip them if you wish.

First of all, I wanna apologize for making you guys wait for thissssssss long. I have a few excuses, so please hear me out.

1) I have plotted this entire fic, from beginning to the end. HOWEVER, stupid FFN deleted after it expired TATATATAT! And I just realized after...like over 2 months. So I forgot almost everything about the plot that I came up over 2 months ago, with school work and other life-related stuff bothering me, it's hard for me to remember everything about this fic. And you do know that Reborn had just made his first appearance right? I haven't even gotten to the Daily Life Arc yet! And I have already plotted all the way to the Future Arc, and that's a LOT of plot and ideas. So with the plot document gone, I have to re-brainstorm my ideas and plot all over again...

2) School is killinnnnnnng me! I am currently in 11th grade, and is taking 2 AP's and 1 honor. I know this is easy comparing to those ppl taking 6-7 AP's while being a club president and being on the sport's team and doing many volunteer works...etc. But to me, it's a lot, especially AP Art History, dunno is anyone of you lovely readers have taken it before, but it requires a LOT of memorization and reading, and that takes time. So I really don't have time to write and brainstorm fanfics, plus I have afterschool homework too, to prepare me for SAT, with a TONS of vocabs to remember...

Therefore, I hardly have time to write fics. BUT, I've managed to squeeze a little time out of my busy schedule to plan for this fic, and write it. So...here you go! I don't know when the next chapter will be, but I'll try to write it and upload it ASAP!

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Kudos to those who can guess where I borrowed the chapter title from (and changed a few words)! (Hint: It's a book title; it's not a very popular book though)

Answer will be revealed in the next chapter.

Btw, I have a question for you guys. Do you guys want me to make shorter chapters and fast updates, or longer chapters and slow updates? Please answer in your review, I'm not gonna make a poll cuz I get notifications for reviews, but not for poll votes.

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Next Chapter: Sport's Day! Basketball tournament! And Tsuna's gonna do whaaaaat!?


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